Title: Expanding Veterans' Access to Choice Act
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security

Summary:
Expanding Veterans' Access to Choice Act
This bill amends the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 to provide that a veteran who lives within 40 miles (calculated on distance traveled) of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical facility, including a community-based outpatient clinic, remains eligible to receive Veterans Choice program services through an approved private health care center if: (1) the VA cannot assign a full-time primary care physician to the veteran at any VA facility within such distance, or (2) no VA facility within such distance provides the needed hospital care or medical treatment.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2478 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2478

To amend the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 to 
   clarify the distance requirement with respect to determining the 
 eligibility of veterans to receive hospital care and medical services 
          from non-Department of Veterans Affairs facilities.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 17, 2017

Mr. Collins of Georgia (for himself, Mr. Coffman, Mr. Ryan of Ohio, Mr. 
 Smith of Texas, and Mr. LaMalfa) introduced the following bill; which 
           was referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 to 
   clarify the distance requirement with respect to determining the 
 eligibility of veterans to receive hospital care and medical services 
          from non-Department of Veterans Affairs facilities.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Expanding Veterans' Access to Choice 
Act''.

SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION OF DISTANCE AND REFERRAL REQUIREMENTS UNDER THE 
              VETERANS CHOICE PROGRAM.

    Subsection (b)(2) of section 101 of the Veterans Access, Choice, 
and Accountability Act of 2014 (Public Law 113-146; 38 U.S.C. 1701 
note) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (C)(ii), by striking ``; or'' and 
        inserting a semicolon;
            (2) in subparagraph (D)(ii)(II)(dd), by striking the period 
        at the end and inserting ``; or''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
                    ``(E) resides within 40 miles (as calculated based 
                on distance traveled) of a medical facility of the 
                Department, including a community-based outpatient 
                clinic, but--
                            ``(i) the Secretary is unable to assign a 
                        full-time primary care physician to the veteran 
                        at any such facility within such distance; or
                            ``(ii) no such facility within such 
                        distance provides the hospital care or medical 
                        treatment the veteran needs.''.
                                 <all>