Title: Parity in Veterans Health Care Rights Act
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security

Summary:
Parity in Veterans Health Care Rights Act
This bill expands eligibility for Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) benefits (including dependency and indemnity compensation) in situations where a veteran has been disabled or died as a result of medical treatment or vocational rehabilitation.
Under the bill, the VA must award such benefits if a disability or death of a veteran was caused by hospital care, a medical service, or an extended care service furnished by a non-VA provider as part of the Veterans Community Care Program. The proximate cause of the disability or death in these situations must have been (1) carelessness, negligence, lack of proper skill, error in judgment, or a similar instance of fault on the part of the provider; or (2) an event that was not reasonably foreseeable.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1934 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1934

  To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide benefits from the 
Department of Veterans Affairs for persons disabled by treatment under 
      the Veterans Community Care Program, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 20, 2019

  Mr. Tester (for himself, Mrs. Murray, and Mr. Brown) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                           Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide benefits from the 
Department of Veterans Affairs for persons disabled by treatment under 
      the Veterans Community Care Program, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Parity in Veterans Health Care 
Rights Act''.

SEC. 2. BENEFITS FOR PERSONS DISABLED BY TREATMENT UNDER VETERANS 
              COMMUNITY CARE PROGRAM.

    Subsection (a) of section 1151 of title 38, United States Code, is 
amended--
            (1) by redesignating paragraph (2) as paragraph (3);
            (2) in paragraph (1)(B), by striking ``or'' at the end; and
            (3) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following new 
        paragraph (2):
            ``(2) the disability or death was caused by hospital care, 
        a medical service, or an extended care service furnished the 
        veteran by a non-Department provider under section 1703 of this 
        title and the proximate cause of the disability or death was--
                    ``(A) carelessness, negligence, lack of proper 
                skill, error in judgment, or similar instance of fault 
                on the part of the provider in furnishing the hospital 
                care, medical or surgical treatment, or examination; or
                    ``(B) an event not reasonably foreseeable; or''.
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