Care Veterans Deserve Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 112 To make certain improvements in the provision of medical care by the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 4, 2021 Mr. HUDSON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To make certain improvements in the provision of medical care by the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Care Veterans Deserve 4 Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:26 Jan 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H112.IH H112 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 112 IH SEC. 2. ELIGIBILITY OF CERTAIN VETERANS WITH SERV- 1 ICE-CONNECTED DISABILITIES TO RECEIVE 2 NON-DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS 3 MEDICAL CARE UNDER VETERANS COMMU- 4 NITY CARE PROGRAM. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (1) of subsection (d) 6 of section 1703 of title 38, United States Code, as amend- 7 ed by section 101 of the Caring for Our Veterans Act of 8 2018 (Public Law 115–182) is amended— 9 (1) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘or’’ at 10 the end; 11 (2) in subparagraph (E), by striking the period 12 and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 13 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub- 14 paragraph: 15 ‘‘(F) the covered veteran has a service-con- 16 nected disability rated at 50 percent or higher 17 and elects to receive care or services through a 18 non-Department provider.’’. 19 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 20 subsection (a) shall apply as if originally enacted in the 21 Caring for Our Veterans Act of 2018 (Public Law 115– 22 182). 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:26 Jan 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H112.IH H112 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 112 IH SEC. 3. EXTENSION OF OPERATING HOURS FOR PHAR- 1 MACIES AND MEDICAL FACILITIES OF THE 2 DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 3 (a) EXTENSION OF OPERATING HOURS FOR PHAR- 4 MACIES.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall extend 5 the operating hours for each pharmacy of the Department 6 of Veterans Affairs during which the pharmacy offers 7 services comparable to retail pharmacies to include— 8 (1) operation on Saturday, Sunday, and Fed- 9 eral holidays; and 10 (2) operation until 8:00 p.m. on weekdays that 11 are not Federal holidays. 12 (b) CONTRACTS WITH PROVIDERS DURING NIGHTS 13 AND WEEKENDS.—The Secretary shall enter into con- 14 tracts, including through locum tenens arrangements, with 15 physicians and nurses that meet qualifications set forth 16 by the Secretary for purposes of this section under which 17 such physicians and nurses work at medical facilities of 18 the Department during nights and weekends. 19 (c) SUPPORT STAFF.—The Secretary may obtain ad- 20 ditional support staff as necessary to carry out this sec- 21 tion, including by hiring employees or contracting for serv- 22 ices. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:26 Jan 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H112.IH H112 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 112 IH SEC. 4. CONDUCT OF BEST-PRACTICES PEER REVIEW OF 1 EACH MEDICAL CENTER OF THE DEPART- 2 MENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 4 may provide for the conduct by a nongovernmental hos- 5 pital organization of a best-practices peer review of each 6 medical center of the Department of Veterans Affairs to 7 evaluate the efficacy of health care delivered at each such 8 medical center. 9 (b) PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall give priority for 10 peer review conducted under subsection (a) to the medical 11 centers of the Department with the longest wait times for 12 an appointment or the worst health outcomes, as deter- 13 mined by the Secretary. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:26 Jan 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H112.IH H112 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS