I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 6332 
To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to improve long-term care provided 
to veterans by the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 20, 2021 
Mr. KILMER (for himself and Mrs. RODGERS of Washington) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
A BILL 
To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to improve long- 
term care provided to veterans by the Department 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 ‘‘Planning for Aging 
Veterans Act of 2021’’. 
SEC. 2. STRATEGY FOR LONG-TERM CARE FOR AGING VET-
ERANS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
shall develop a strategy for the long-term care of veterans. 
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(b) ELEMENTS.—The strategy developed under sub-
section (a) shall— 
(1) identify current and future needs for the 
long-term care of veterans based on demographic 
data and availability of services both from Depart-
ment of Veterans Affairs and from non-Department 
providers in the community, include other Federal 
Government, non-Federal Government, nonprofit, for 
profit, and other entities; 
(2) identify the current and future needs of vet-
erans for both institutional and non-institutional 
long-term care (for example, home-based and com-
munity-based services), taking into account the 
needs of growing veteran population groups, includ-
ing women veterans, veterans with traumatic brain 
injury, veterans with memory loss, and other popu-
lation groups with unique needs; and 
(3) address new and different care delivery 
models, including by— 
(A) assessing the implications of such mod-
els for the design of facilities and how those fa-
cilities may need to change; 
(B) examining the workforce needed to 
support aging populations of veterans as they 
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grow and receive long-term care through dif-
ferent trends of care delivery; and 
(C) considering the feasibility and advis-
ability of implementing a veteran-focused inde-
pendent provider model for non-institutional 
care. 
(c) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit 
to Congress a report on the strategy developed under sub-
section (a). 
SEC. 3. IMPROVEMENT OF STATE VETERANS HOMES. 
(a) STANDARDIZED SHARING AGREEMENTS.—The 
Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall develop a standardized 
process throughout the Department of Veterans Affairs 
for entering into sharing agreements between State homes 
and medical centers of the Department. 
(b) PROVISION OF MEDICATION TO CATASTROPH-
ICALLY DISABLED VETERANS.—Section 1745(b) of title 
38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 
the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(3) Any veteran who has been determined by 
the Secretary to be catastrophically disabled, as de-
fined in section 17.36(e) of title 38, Code of Federal 
Regulations, or successor regulations, and on whose 
behalf the Secretary is paying a per diem for nurs-
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ing home or domiciliary care in a State home under 
this chapter.’’. 
(c) OVERSIGHT OF INSPECTIONS.— 
(1) MONITORING.—The Secretary shall monitor 
any contractor used by the Department to conduct 
inspections of State homes, including by reviewing 
the inspections conducted by each such contractor 
for quality not less frequently than quarterly. 
(2) REPORTING OF DEFICIENCIES.—The Sec-
retary shall require that any deficiencies of a State 
home noted during the inspection of the State home 
be reported to the Secretary. 
(3) TRANSPARENCY.—The Secretary shall pub-
lish the results of any inspection of a State home, 
and any associated corrective actions planned by the 
State home, on a publicly available internet website 
of the Department. 
(d) STATE HOME DEFINED.—In this section, the 
term ‘‘State home’’ has the meaning given that term in 
section 101(19) of title 38, United States Code. 
SEC. 4. GERIATRIC PSYCHIATRY PILOT PROGRAM AT 
STATE VETERANS HOMES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Vet-
erans Affairs shall commence the conduct of a pilot pro-
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gram under which the Secretary shall provide geriatric 
psychiatry assistance to eligible veterans at State homes. 
(b) DURATION.—The Secretary shall carry out the 
pilot program under this section for a two-year period. 
(c) TYPE
OF
ASSISTANCE.—Assistance provided 
under the pilot program under this section may include— 
(1) direct provision of geriatric psychiatry serv-
ices, including health care if feasible; 
(2) payments to non-Department of Veterans 
Affairs providers in the community to provide such 
services; 
(3) collaboration with other Federal agencies to 
provide such services; or 
(4) such other forms of assistance as the Sec-
retary considers appropriate. 
(d) CONSIDERATION OF LOCAL AREA NEEDS.—In 
providing assistance under the pilot program under this 
section, the Secretary shall consider the geriatric psychi-
atry needs of the local area, including by considering— 
(1) State homes with a high proportion of resi-
dents with unmet mental health needs; 
(2) State homes located in mental health care 
health professional shortage areas designated under 
section 332 of the Public Health Service Act (42 
U.S.C. 254e); or 
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(3) State homes located in rural or highly rural 
areas. 
(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the terms ‘‘State 
home’’ and ‘‘veteran’’ have the meanings given those 
terms in section 101 of title 38, United States Code. 
SEC. 5. SUPPORT FOR AGING VETERANS AT RISK OF OR EX-
PERIENCING HOMELESSNESS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
shall work with public housing authorities and local orga-
nizations to assist aging homeless veterans in accessing 
existing housing and supportive services, including health 
services like home-based and community-based services 
from the Department of Veterans Affairs or from non-De-
partment providers in the community. 
(b) PAYMENT FOR SERVICES.—The Secretary may, 
and is encouraged to, pay for services for aging homeless 
veterans described in subsection (a). 
Æ 
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