Local Care for Veterans Act

Bill: 114-hr-1863
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Boustany, Charles W., Jr. [R-LA-3]
Introduced: 2015-04-16
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Subjects: Health care quality

Health facilities and institutions

Veterans' medical care
Latest action: action_date: 2015-05-01
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.

Summaries:
action_date: 2015-04-16
action_desc: Introduced in House
text: <p><strong>Local Care for Veterans Act </strong></p> <p>This bill amends the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to ensure that a veteran may elect to receive health care treatment and services in a qualifying non-VA facility if: (1) the veteran is enrolled in the VA health care system and resides not more than 50 miles from the nearest VA facility that the Secretary has identified in a prospectus level lease request as being deficient with respect to providing certain treatment or services or as needing expansion; and (2) the Secretary determines that such deficiency has not been resolved or such expansion has not occurred.</p>

tv_txt: I 114th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 1863 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES April 16, 2015 Mr. Boustany 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 expand the Veterans Choice Program to veterans who would otherwise receive medical care from a deficient medical facility of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Local Care for Veterans Act . 2. Provision of care under Veterans Choice Program for veterans residing near deficient medical facility of the Department of Veterans Affairs Section 101(b)(2) of the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 ( 38 U.S.C. 1701 note) is amended— (1) in subparagraph (C)(ii), by striking or ; (2) in subparagraph (D), by striking the period at the end and inserting ; or ; and (3) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph: (E) notwithstanding paragraph (1)(A), resides not more than 50 miles from the medical facility of the Department, including a community-based outpatient clinic, that is closest to the residence of the veteran if— (i) the Secretary has identified such medical facility— (I) in a prospectus level lease request, regardless of the date of such request, as being deficient with respect to providing certain treatment or services; or (II) as needing expansion; and (ii) the Secretary determines that such a deficiency has not been resolved or such an expansion has not occurred, including pursuant to leases entered into under an Act authorizing major medical facility leases. .