I 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION H. R. 10153 
To designate Regional Breast and Gynecologic Cancer Care Coordinators 
to expand the work of the Breast and Gynecologic Oncology System 
of Excellence at the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 18, 2024 
Ms. GARCIA of Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
A BILL 
To designate Regional Breast and Gynecologic Cancer Care 
Coordinators to expand the work of the Breast and 
Gynecologic Oncology System of Excellence at the De-
partment of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Women Veterans Can-
cer Care Coordination Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS REGIONAL 
BREAST CANCER AND GYNECOLOGIC CAN-
CER CARE COORDINATORS. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than one year after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs shall hire or designate a Regional Breast 
Cancer and Gynecologic Cancer Care Coordinator at each 
Veteran Integrated Services Network (hereinafter in this 
section referred to as ‘‘VISN’’). Each Care Coordinator 
hired or designated under this subsection shall report di-
rectly to the Director of the Breast and Gynecologic On-
cology System of Excellence (hereinafter in this section re-
ferred to as the ‘‘BGOSoE’’). 
(b) ELIGIBLE VETERANS.—A veteran is eligible to re-
ceive care coordination provided by a Care Coordinator 
hired or designated under subsection (a) if the veteran— 
(1) is diagnosed with a breast or gynecologic 
cancer, or has been identified as having a 
precancerous breast or gynecologic condition; and 
(2) is eligible for health care furnished through 
the Veterans Community Care Program under sec-
tion 1703 of title 38, United States Code, at a non- 
Department facility. 
(c) LOCATIONS.—The Secretary shall establish re-
gions for purposes of care coordination provided by Re-
gional Breast Cancer and Gynecologic Cancer Care Coor-
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dinators hired or designated under subsection (a). In es-
tablishing such regions, the Secretary shall— 
(1) assign all Department facilities to an appro-
priate region under the supervision of the BGOSoE 
Director and a designated Regional Breast and 
Gynecologic Cancer Care Coordinator; and 
(2) take into account existing VISNs and the 
specific needs of veterans in each region, including 
veterans living in rural communities. 
(d) DUTIES OF REGIONAL BREAST AND GYNECO-
LOGICAL CANCER CARE COORDINATORS.—The Regional 
Breast Cancer and Gynecologic Cancer Care Coordinator 
hired or designated under subsection (a) shall be respon-
sible for carrying out the following duties: 
(1) Ensuring the coordination of care between 
clinicians of the Department and breast and 
gynecologic cancer community care providers. 
(2) Working with the Office of Community Care 
of the relevant medical facility of the Department re-
garding care furnished under such section. 
(3) Making regular contact with each veteran 
based on the veteran’s specific medical needs when 
the veteran receives care from a community care 
provider. 
(4) Monitoring— 
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(A) the services furnished to veterans by 
the Department and community care providers; 
(B) the health outcomes of veterans with 
respect to a cancer diagnosis, including remis-
sion, metastasis, and death; and 
(C) the data relating to breast and 
gynecologic cancer care (using relevant data-
bases of the Veterans Health Administration or 
other Department databases), including— 
(i) the demographics of veterans who 
have breast or gynecologic cancer; and 
(ii) the number of veterans being 
treated for breast or gynecologic cancer. 
(5) Providing particular information to veterans 
with breast or gynecologic cancer, including— 
(A) how to seek emergency care at the 
emergency department closest to the residence 
of the veteran, including that it is generally ad-
visable for veterans to notify the Department of 
emergency care received at a non-Department 
facility within 72 hours of receiving care to fa-
cilitate the authorization of payments for such 
emergency treatment; and 
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(B) information about mental health re-
sources, including with respect to information 
encouraging follow-up care for depression. 
(6) Documenting certain information on vet-
erans receiving care for breast or gynecologic care in 
the electronic health records of the Department, in-
cluding— 
(A) the documentation of the contact de-
scribed in paragraph (3); 
(B) the contact information of the breast 
or gynecologic cancer care community care pro-
viders of such veterans; and 
(C) the breast or gynecologic cancer diag-
nosis of veterans. 
(7) Carrying out such other duties as may be 
determined appropriate by the Secretary. 
(e) REPORT.—Not later than three years after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall sub-
mit to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate 
and the House of Representatives a report containing the 
following: 
(1) A comparison of the health outcomes of vet-
erans who received cancer care at a Department fa-
cility and those who received care furnished by non- 
Department medical providers pursuant to section 
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1703 of title 38, United States Code, include with 
respect to the following: 
(A) Treatment and types of health out-
comes, including (for the most recent three 
years of available data)— 
(i) the number of veterans who were 
diagnosed with a breast or gynecologic can-
cer, or precancerous breast or gynecologic 
condition; 
(ii) the percentage of such veterans 
who have experienced a cancer-related 
death; and 
(iii) the percentage of such veterans 
who have entered remission for gynecologic 
cancer. 
(B) Timeliness of care furnished under 
chapter 17 of title 38, United States Code, in-
cluding how quickly initial post-diagnosis ap-
pointments and appointments to develop a 
treatment plan are scheduled and provided. 
(C) Patient safety associated with such 
care at Department facilities or community care 
providers, including the number of errors in 
medical care that rise to the level of ‘‘never 
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events’’ (such as a foreign body left in a veteran 
during surgery). 
(2) An evaluation of what changes or additional 
resources are needed to further improve breast and 
gynecologic cancer care and coordination. 
(3) Any other matter the Secretary determines 
appropriate. 
(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) The term ‘‘community care provider’’ means 
a health care provider described in section 1703(c) 
of title 38, United States Code, who has entered into 
a contract or agreement to furnish hospital care, 
medical services, or extended care services (other 
than care related to breast and gynecologic cancer) 
to veterans under section 1703 of title 38, United 
States Code. 
(2) The term ‘‘breast and gynecologic cancer 
community care provider’’ means a breast or 
gynecologic cancer care provider described in section 
1703(c) of title 38, United States Code, who has en-
tered into a contract or agreement to furnish hos-
pital care, medical services, or extended care services 
to provide care related to breast or gynecologic can-
cer to veterans under section 1703 of title 38F, 
United States Code. 
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(3) The term ‘‘breast cancer’’ has the meaning 
given such term by the Director of the Breast and 
Gynecologic Oncology System of Excellence. 
(4) The term ‘‘gynecologic cancer’’ means cer-
vical cancer, ovarian cancer, uterine cancer, vaginal 
cancer, vulvar cancer, and gestational trophoblastic 
neoplasia. 
(5) The term ‘‘non-Department facility’’ has 
the meaning given that term in section 1701 of title 
38, United States Code. 
Æ 
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