H. R. 2116—16
Chronically Mentally Ill Veterans established pursuant to section
7321 of title 38, United States Code.
(b) COVERED PROGRAMS.—For purposes of this section, the term
‘‘specialized mental health services’’ includes programs relating to—
(1) the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder; and
(2) substance use disorders.
(c) FUNDING.—(1) In carrying out the program described in
subsection (a), the Secretary shall identify, from funds available
to the Department for medical care, an amount of not less than
$15,000,000 to be available to carry out the program and to be
allocated to facilities of the Department pursuant to subsection
(d).
(2) In identifying available amounts pursuant to paragraph
(1), the Secretary shall ensure that, after the allocation of those
funds under subsection (d), the total expenditure for programs
relating to (A) the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder,
and (B) substance use disorders is not less than $15,000,000 in
excess of the baseline amount.
(3) For purposes of paragraph (2), the baseline amount is the
amount of the total expenditures on such programs for the most
recent fiscal year for which final expenditure amounts are known,
adjusted to reflect any subsequent increase in applicable costs to
deliver such services in the Veterans Health Administration, as
determined by the Committee on Care of Severely Chronically Men-
tally Ill Veterans.
(d) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS TO DEPARTMENT FACILITIES.—The
Secretary shall allocate funds identified pursuant to subsection
(c)(1) to individual medical facilities of the Department as the
Secretary determines appropriate based upon proposals submitted
by those facilities for the use of those funds for improvements
to specialized mental health services.
(e) REPORT.—Not later than 12 months after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the Committees
on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and House of Representatives
a report describing the implementation of this section. The Sec-
retary shall include in the report information on the allocation
of funds to facilities of the Department under the program and
a description of the improvements made with those funds to special-
ized mental health services for veterans.
TITLE II—MEDICAL PROGRAM
ADMINISTRATION
SEC. 201. MEDICAL CARE COLLECTIONS.
(a) LIMITED AUTHORITY TO SET COPAYMENTS.—Section 1722A
is amended—
(1) by redesignating subsections (b) and (c) as subsections
(c) and (d), respectively;
(2) by inserting after subsection (a) the following new sub-
section (b):
‘‘(b) The Secretary, pursuant to regulations which the Secretary
shall prescribe, may—
‘‘(1) increase the copayment amount in effect under sub-
section (a); and
H. R. 2116—17
‘‘(2) establish a maximum monthly and a maximum annual
pharmaceutical copayment amount under subsection (a) for
veterans who have multiple outpatient prescriptions.’’; and
(3) in subsection (c), as redesignated by paragraph (1)—
(A) by striking ‘‘this section’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection
(a)’’; and
(B) by adding at the end the following new sentence:
‘‘Amounts collected through use of the authority under
subsection (b) shall be deposited in the Department of
Veterans Affairs Health Services Improvement Fund.’’.
(b) OUTPATIENT TREATMENT.—Section 1710(g) is amended—
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘the amount determined
under paragraph (2) of this subsection’’ and inserting ‘‘in the
case of each outpatient visit the applicable amount or amounts
established by the Secretary by regulation’’; and
(2) in paragraph (2), by striking all after ‘‘for an amount’’
and inserting ‘‘which the Secretary shall establish by regula-
tion.’’.
SEC. 202. HEALTH SERVICES IMPROVEMENT FUND.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT
OF FUND.—Chapter 17 is amended by
inserting after section 1729A the following new section:
‘‘§ 1729B. Health Services Improvement Fund
‘‘(a) There is established in the Treasury of the United States
a fund to be known as the Department of Veterans Affairs Health
Services Improvement Fund.
‘‘(b) Amounts received or collected after the date of the enact-
ment of this section under any of the following provisions of law
shall be deposited in the fund:
‘‘(1) Section 1713A of this title.
‘‘(2) Section 1722A(b) of this title.
‘‘(3) Section 8165(a) of this title.
‘‘(4) Section 113 of the Veterans Millennium Health Care
and Benefits Act.
‘‘(c) Amounts in the fund are hereby available, without fiscal
year limitation, to the Secretary for the purposes stated in subpara-
graphs (A) and (B) of section 1729A(c)(1) of this title.
‘‘(d) The Secretary shall allocate amounts in the fund in the
same manner as applies under subsection (d) of section 1729A
of this title with respect to amounts made available from the
fund under that section.’’.
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections at the begin-
ning of such chapter is amended by inserting after the item relating
to section 1729A the following new item:
‘‘1729B. Health Services Improvement Fund.’’.
SEC. 203. ALLOCATION TO HEALTH CARE FACILITIES OF AMOUNTS
MADE AVAILABLE FROM MEDICAL CARE COLLECTIONS
FUND.
Section 1729A(d) is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘(1)’’;
(2) by striking ‘‘each designated health care region’’ and
inserting ‘‘each Department health care facility’’;
(3) by striking ‘‘each region’’ and inserting ‘‘each facility’’;
(4) by striking ‘‘such region’’ both places it appears and
inserting ‘‘such facility’’; and
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(5) by striking paragraph (2).
SEC. 204. AUTHORITY TO ACCEPT FUNDS FOR EDUCATION AND
TRAINING.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF NONPROFIT CORPORATIONS AT MEDICAL
CENTERS.—Section 7361(a) is amended—
(1) by inserting ‘‘and education’’ after ‘‘research’’; and
(2) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘Such a corporation
may be established to facilitate either research or education
or both research and education.’’.
(b) PURPOSE OF CORPORATIONS.—Section 7362 is amended—
(1) in the first sentence—
(A) by inserting ‘‘(a)’’ before ‘‘Any corporation’’; and
(B) by inserting ‘‘and education and training as
described in sections 7302, 7471, 8154, and 1701(6)(B) of
this title’’ after ‘‘of this title’’;
(2) in the second sentence—
(A) by inserting ‘‘or education’’ after ‘‘research’’; and
(B) by striking ‘‘that purpose’’ and inserting ‘‘these
purposes’’; and
(3) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
‘‘(b) For purposes of this section, the term ‘education and
training’ means the following:
‘‘(1) In the case of employees of the Veterans Health
Administration, such term means work-related instruction or
other learning experiences to—
‘‘(A) improve performance of current duties;
‘‘(B) assist employees in maintaining or gaining special-
ized proficiencies; and
‘‘(C) expand understanding of advances and changes
in patient care, technology, and health care administration.
Such term includes (in the case of such employees) education
and training conducted as part of a residency or other program
designed to prepare an individual for an occupation or profes-
sion.
‘‘(2) In the case of veterans under the care of the Veterans
Health Administration, such term means instruction or other
learning experiences related to improving and maintaining the
health of veterans to patients and to the families and guardians
of patients.’’.
(c) BOARD OF DIRECTORS.—Section 7363(a) is amended—
(1) in subsection (a)(1), by striking all after ‘‘medical center,
and’’ and inserting ‘‘as appropriate, the assistant chief of staff
for research for the medical center and the assistant chief
of staff for education for the medical center, or, in the case
of a facility at which such positions do not exist, those officials
who are responsible for carrying out the responsibilities of
the medical center director, chief of staff, and, as appropriate,
the assistant chief of staff for research and the assistant chief
of staff for education; and’’;
(2) in subsection (a)(2), by inserting ‘‘or education, as appro-
priate’’ after ‘‘research’’; and
(3) in subsection (c), by inserting ‘‘or education’’ after
‘‘research’’.
(d) APPROVAL OF EXPENDITURES.—Section 7364 is amended by
adding at the end the following new subsection:
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‘‘(c)(1) A corporation established under this subchapter may
not spend funds for an education activity unless the activity is
approved in accordance with procedures prescribed by the Under
Secretary for Health.
‘‘(2) The Under Secretary for Health shall prescribe policies
and procedures to guide the expenditure of funds by corporations
under paragraph (1) consistent with the purpose of such corpora-
tions as flexible funding mechanisms.’’.
(e) ACCOUNTABILITY
AND
OVERSIGHT.—Section 7366(d) is
amended—
(1) in paragraph (2)(B), by inserting ‘‘for research and
the amount received from governmental entities for education’’
after ‘‘entities’’;
(2) in paragraph (2)(C), by inserting ‘‘for research and
the amount received from all other sources for education’’ after
‘‘sources’’;
(3) in paragraph (2)(D), by striking ‘‘the’’ and inserting
‘‘a’’;
(4) in paragraph (3)(A), by striking ‘‘and’’ and inserting
‘‘, the amount expended for salary for education staff, and
the amount expended’’;
(5) in paragraph (3)(B), by inserting ‘‘and the amount
expended for direct support of education’’ after ‘‘research’’; and
(6) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
‘‘(4) The amount expended by each corporation during the
year for travel conducted in conjunction with research and
the amount expended for travel in conjunction with education.’’.
SEC. 205. EXTENSION OF CERTAIN AUTHORITIES.
(a) READJUSTMENT COUNSELING.—Section 1712A(a)(1)(B)(ii) is
amended by striking ‘‘January 1, 2000’’ and inserting ‘‘January
1, 2004’’.
(b) NEWSLETTER ON MEDICAL CARE FOR PERSIAN GULF VET-
ERANS.—Section 105(b)(2) of the Persian Gulf War Veterans’ Bene-
fits Act (title I of Public Law 103–446; 108 Stat. 4659; 38 U.S.C.
1117 note) is amended by striking ‘‘December 31, 1999’’ and
inserting ‘‘December 31, 2003’’.
(c) EVALUATION
OF HEALTH
OF SPOUSES
AND CHILDREN
OF
PERSIAN GULF VETERANS.—Section 107(b) of that Act is amended
by striking ‘‘December 31, 1999’’ and inserting ‘‘December 31, 2003’’.
SEC. 206. REESTABLISHMENT OF COMMITTEE ON POST-TRAUMATIC
STRESS DISORDER.
Section 110 of the Veterans’ Health Care Act of 1984 (38
U.S.C. 1712A note) is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘Chief Medical Director’’ each place it
appears and inserting ‘‘Under Secretary for Health’’;
(2) by striking ‘‘Veterans’ Administration’’ each place it
appears (other than in subsection (a)(1)) and inserting ‘‘Depart-
ment’’;
(3) by striking ‘‘Veterans’ Administration’’ in subsection
(a)(1) and inserting ‘‘Department of Veterans Affairs’’;
(4) by striking ‘‘Department of Medicine and Surgery’’ each
place it appears and inserting ‘‘Veterans Health Administra-
tion’’;
(5) by striking ‘‘section 612A’’ in subsection (a)(2) and
inserting ‘‘section 1712A’’;