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(e) RECOMMENDATIONS FOR TRICARE INDEPENDENT
PRACTICE AUTHORITY.—The recommendations provided
under subsection (a)(2) shall include specific recommenda-
tion (whether positive or negative) regarding modifications
of current policy for the TRICARE program with respect
to allowing members of each of the health care professions
referred to in subsection (a)(1) to practice independently
under the TRICARE program, including recommendations
regarding possible revision of requirements for recognition
of practitioners under each such profession.
(f) REPORT .—Not later than 180 days after the date
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to
the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the
House of Representatives a report on the review required
by subsection (a).
SEC. 705. SENSE OF SENATE ON COLLABORATIONS BE-
TWEEN THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE AND
THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS ON
HEALTH CARE FOR WOUNDED WARRIORS.
(a) FINDINGS.—The Senate makes the following find-
ings:
(1) There have been recent collaborations between
the Department of Defense, the Department of Vet-
erans Affairs, and the civilian medical community for
purposes of providing high quality medical care to
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America’s wounded warriors. One such collaboration
is occurring in Augusta, Georgia, between the Dwight
D. Eisenhower Army Medical Center at Fort Gordon,
the Augusta Department of Veterans Affairs Medical
Center, the Medical College of Georgia, and local
health care providers under the TRICARE program.
(2) Medical staff from the Dwight D. Eisenhower
Army Medical Center and the Augusta Department of
Veterans Affairs Medical Center have been meeting
weekly to discuss future patient cases for the Active
Duty Rehabilitation Unit (ADRU) within the Up-
town Department of Veterans Affairs facility. The Ac-
tive Duty Rehabilitation Unit, along with the
Polytrauma Centers of the Department of Veterans
Affairs, provide rehabilitation for members of the
Armed Forces on active duty.
(3) Since 2004, 1,037 soldiers, sailors, airmen,
and marines have received rehabilitation services at
the Active Duty Rehabilitation Unit, 32 percent of
whom served in Operation Iraqi Freedom or Oper-
ation Enduring Freedom.
(4) The Dwight D. Eisenhower Army Medical
Center and the Augusta Department of Veterans Af-
fairs Medical Center have combined their neuro-
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surgery programs and have coordinated on critical
brain injury and psychiatric care.
(5) The Department of Defense, the Army, and
the Army Medical Command have recognized the need
for expanded behavioral health care services for mem-
bers of the Armed Forces returning from Operation
Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.
These services are currently being provided by the
Dwight D. Eisenhower Army Medical Center.
(b) SENSE OF SENATE.—It is the sense of the Senate
that the Department of Defense should encourage con-
tinuing collaboration between the Army and the Depart-
ment of Veterans Affairs in treating America’s wounded
warriors and, when appropriate and available, provide ad-
ditional support and resources for the development of such
collaborations, including the current collaboration between
the Active Duty Rehabilitation Unit at the Augusta Depart-
ment of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Georgia, and the
behavioral health care services program at the Dwight D.
Eisenhower Army Medical Center, Fort Gordon, Georgia.
SEC. 706. AUTHORITY FOR EXPANSION OF PERSONS ELIGI-
BLE FOR CONTINUED HEALTH BENEFITS
COVERAGE.
(a) AUTHORITY TO SPECIFY ADDITIONAL ELIGIBLE
PERSONS.—Subsection (b) of section 1078a of title 10,