Title: Native American Veteran PACT Act
Policy area: Native Americans

Summary:
Native American Veteran Parity in Access to Care Today Act or the Native American Veteran PACT Act
This bill prohibits the Department of Veterans Affairs from collecting copayments from American Indian or Alaska Native veterans for hospital care or medical services.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4909 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4909

To amend title 38, United States Code, to prohibit the collection of a 
   health care copayment by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs from a 
              veteran who is a member of an Indian Tribe.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           November 18, 2020

 Mr. Tester (for himself and Mr. Moran) 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 prohibit the collection of a 
   health care copayment by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs from a 
              veteran who is a member of an Indian Tribe.

    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 ``Native American Veteran Parity in 
Access to Care Today Act'' or the ``Native American Veteran PACT Act''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON COLLECTION OF A HEALTH CARE COPAYMENT BY THE 
              SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS FROM A VETERAN WHO IS A 
              MEMBER OF AN INDIAN TRIBE.

    (a) In General.--Section 1730A of title 38, United States Code, is 
amended--
            (1) in the heading, by striking ``catastrophically 
        disabled'' and inserting ``certain'';
            (2) by inserting ``(a) Prohibition.--'' before 
        ``Notwithstanding'';
            (3) by striking ``a veteran who is catastrophically 
        disabled, as defined by the Secretary,'' and inserting ``a 
        covered veteran''; and
            (4) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(b) Covered Veteran Defined.--In this section, the term `covered 
veteran' means a veteran who--
            ``(1) is catastrophically disabled, as defined by the 
        Secretary; or
            ``(2) is an Indian or urban Indian (as those terms are 
        defined in section 4 of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act 
        (25 U.S.C. 1603)).''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning of 
chapter 17 of such title is amended by striking the item relating to 
section 1730A and inserting the following new item:

``1730A. Prohibition on collection of copayments from certain 
                            veterans.''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall take 
effect on the date that is one year after the date of the enactment of 
this Act.
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