Title: Caring For Our Women Veterans Act
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security

Summary:
Caring For Our Women Veterans Act
This bill establishes various reporting requirements for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) related to women veterans and health care. Specifically, the bill requires the VA to submit reports on (1) women veterans' use of health care from the VA; (2) use by the VA of general primary care clinics, separate but shared spaces, and women's health centers as models of providing health care to women veterans; and (3) the staffing of the VA related to the treatment of women.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3636 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3636

  To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit to Congress 
 certain reports relating to the health care and treatment provided by 
  the Department of Veterans Affairs to women veterans, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              July 9, 2019

Ms. Underwood introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit to Congress 
 certain reports relating to the health care and treatment provided by 
  the Department of Veterans Affairs to women veterans, 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 ``Caring For Our Women Veterans Act''.

SEC. 2. REPORT ON LOCATIONS WHERE WOMEN VETERANS ARE USING HEALTH CARE 
              FROM DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs shall submit to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of 
the Senate and the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the House of 
Representatives a report on the use by women veterans of health care 
from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
    (b) Elements.--Each report required by subsection (a) shall include 
the following information:
            (1) The number of women veterans who reside in each State.
            (2) The number of women veterans in each State who are 
        enrolled in the system of patient enrollment of the Department 
        established and operated under section 1705(a) of title 38, 
        United States Code.
            (3) Of the women veterans who are so enrolled, the number 
        who have received health care under the laws administered by 
        the Secretary at least one time during the one-year period 
        preceding the submittal of the report.
            (4) The number of women veterans who have been seen at each 
        medical facility of the Department during such year.
            (5) The number of appointments that women veterans have had 
        at each such facility during such year.
            (6) If known, an identification of the medical facility of 
        the Department in each Veterans Integrated Service Network with 
        the largest rate of increase in patient population of women 
        veterans as measured by the increase in unique women veteran 
        patient use.
            (7) If known, an identification of the medical facility of 
        the Department in each Veterans Integrated Service Network with 
        the largest rate of decrease in patient population of women 
        veterans as measured by the decrease in unique women veterans 
        patient use.

SEC. 3. REPORT ON MODELS OF MEDICAL FACILITIES OF DEPARTMENT OF 
              VETERANS AFFAIRS FOR THE TREATMENT OF WOMEN.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs shall submit to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of 
the Senate and the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the House of 
Representatives a report on the use by the Department of Veterans 
Affairs of general primary care clinics, separate but shared spaces, 
and women's health centers as models of providing health care to women 
veterans.
    (b) Elements.--Each report required by subsection (a) shall include 
the following:
            (1) The number of facilities of the Department that fall 
        into each model described in subsection (a), disaggregated by 
        Veterans Integrated Service Network and State.
            (2) A description of the criteria used by the Department to 
        determine which such model is most appropriate for each 
        facility of the Department.
            (3) An assessment of how the Department decides to make 
        investments to upgrade facilities to the next higher-level 
        model.
            (4) A description of what, if any, plans the Department has 
        to upgrade facilities from the lowest-level model, general 
        primary care clinics, to another model.
            (5) An assessment of whether any facilities could be 
        upgraded to the next higher-level model within planned 
        investments under the strategic capital investment planning 
        process of the Department.
            (6) An assessment of whether any facilities could be 
        upgraded to the next higher-level model with minor 
        modifications to existing plans under the strategic capital 
        investment planning process of the Department.
            (7) An assessment of whether the Department has a goal for 
        how many facilities should fall into each such model.

SEC. 4. REPORT ON STAFFING OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS RELATING TO THE 
              TREATMENT OF WOMEN.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs shall submit to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of 
the Senate and the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the House of 
Representatives a report on the staffing of the Department of Veterans 
Affairs relating to the treatment of women.
    (b) Elements.--Each report required by subsection (a) shall include 
the following, disaggregated by Veterans Integrated Service Network and 
State (except with respect to paragraph (4)):
            (1) The number of women's health centers.
            (2) The number of patient aligned care teams of the 
        Department relating to women's health.
            (3) The number of full- and part-time gynecologists of the 
        Department.
            (4) The number of designated women's health care providers 
        of the Department, disaggregated by facility of the Department.
            (5) The number of health care providers of the Department 
        who have completed a mini-residency for women's health care 
        through Women Veterans Health Care Mini-Residency Program of 
        the Department during the one-year period preceding the 
        submittal of the report, and the number that plan to 
        participate in such a mini-residency during the one-year period 
        following such date.
            (6) The number of designated women's health care providers 
        of the Department who have sufficient female patients to retain 
        their competencies and proficiencies.
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