Planning for Aging Veterans Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1965 To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to improve long-term care provided to veterans by the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 8, 2021 Mrs. MURRAY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to improve long- term care provided to veterans 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 ‘‘Planning for Aging 4 Veterans Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. STRATEGY FOR LONG-TERM CARE FOR AGING VET- 6 ERANS. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 8 shall develop a strategy for the long-term care of veterans. 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:03 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1965.IS S1965 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1965 IS (b) ELEMENTS.—The strategy developed under sub- 1 section (a) shall— 2 (1) identify current and future needs for the 3 long-term care of veterans based on demographic 4 data and availability of services both from Depart- 5 ment of Veterans Affairs and from non-Department 6 providers in the community, include other Federal 7 Government, non-Federal Government, nonprofit, for 8 profit, and other entities; 9 (2) identify the current and future needs of vet- 10 erans for both institutional and non-institutional 11 long-term care (for example, home-based and com- 12 munity-based services), taking into account the 13 needs of growing veteran population groups, includ- 14 ing women veterans, veterans with traumatic brain 15 injury, veterans with memory loss, and other popu- 16 lation groups with unique needs; and 17 (3) address new and different care delivery 18 models, including by— 19 (A) assessing the implications of such mod- 20 els for the design of facilities and how those fa- 21 cilities may need to change; and 22 (B) examining the workforce needed to 23 support aging populations of veterans as they 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:03 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1965.IS S1965 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1965 IS grow and receive long-term care through dif- 1 ferent trends of care delivery. 2 (c) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the date 3 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit 4 to Congress a report on the strategy developed under sub- 5 section (a). 6 SEC. 3. IMPROVEMENT OF STATE VETERANS HOMES. 7 (a) STANDARDIZED SHARING AGREEMENTS.—The 8 Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall develop a standardized 9 process throughout the Department of Veterans Affairs 10 for entering into sharing agreements between State homes 11 and medical centers of the Department. 12 (b) CLARIFICATION ON COPAYMENTS FOR CERTAIN 13 DISABLED VETERANS.—The Secretary shall ensure that 14 all veterans who are catastrophically disabled, as defined 15 by the Secretary under section 1730A of title 38, United 16 States Code, are not required to pay a copayment for 17 medication received at a State home. 18 (c) OVERSIGHT OF INSPECTIONS.— 19 (1) MONITORING.—The Secretary shall monitor 20 any contractor used by the Department to conduct 21 inspections of State homes, including by reviewing 22 the inspections conducted by each such contractor 23 for quality not less frequently than quarterly. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:03 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1965.IS S1965 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1965 IS (2) REPORTING OF DEFICIENCIES.—The Sec- 1 retary shall require that any deficiencies of a State 2 home noted during the inspection of the State home 3 be reported to the Secretary. 4 (3) TRANSPARENCY.—The Secretary shall pub- 5 lish the results of any inspection of a State home on 6 a publicly available internet website of the Depart- 7 ment. 8 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the term ‘‘State 9 home’’ has the meaning given that term in section 101(19) 10 of title 38, United States Code. 11 SEC. 4. GERIATRIC PSYCHIATRY PILOT PROGRAM AT 12 STATE VETERANS HOMES. 13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 14 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Vet- 15 erans Affairs shall commence the conduct of a pilot pro- 16 gram under which the Secretary shall provide geriatric 17 psychiatry assistance to eligible veterans at State homes. 18 (b) DURATION.—The Secretary shall carry out the 19 pilot program under this section for a two-year period. 20 (c) TYPE OF ASSISTANCE.—Assistance provided 21 under the pilot program under this section may include— 22 (1) direct provision of geriatric psychiatry serv- 23 ices, including health care if feasible; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:03 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1965.IS S1965 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1965 IS (2) payments to non-Department of Veterans 1 Affairs providers in the community to provide such 2 services; 3 (3) collaboration with other Federal agencies to 4 provide such services; or 5 (4) such other forms of assistance as the Sec- 6 retary considers appropriate. 7 (d) CONSIDERATION OF LOCAL AREA NEEDS.—In 8 providing assistance under the pilot program under this 9 section, the Secretary shall consider the geriatric psychi- 10 atry needs of the local area, including by considering— 11 (1) State homes with a high proportion of resi- 12 dents with unmet mental health needs; 13 (2) State homes located in mental health care 14 health professional shortage areas designated under 15 section 332 of the Public Health Service Act (42 16 U.S.C. 254e); or 17 (3) State homes located in rural or highly rural 18 areas. 19 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 20 (1) ACTIVE MILITARY, NAVAL, OR AIR SERV- 21 ICE.—The term ‘‘active military, naval, or air serv- 22 ice’’ has the meaning given that term in section 23 101(24) of title 38, United States Code. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:03 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1965.IS S1965 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1965 IS (2) ELIGIBLE VETERAN.—The term ‘‘eligible 1 veteran’’ means a veteran who the Secretary deter- 2 mines would benefit from access to geriatric psychi- 3 atry services, including veterans who sustained a 4 traumatic brain injury or posttraumatic stress dis- 5 order in line of duty in the active military, naval, or 6 air service. 7 (3) STATE HOME.—The term ‘‘State home’’ has 8 the meaning given that term in section 101(19) of 9 title 38, United States Code. 10 SEC. 5. SUPPORT FOR AGING VETERANS AT RISK OF OR EX- 11 PERIENCING HOMELESSNESS. 12 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 13 shall work with public housing authorities and local orga- 14 nizations to assist aging homeless veterans in accessing 15 existing housing and supportive services, including health 16 services like home-based and community-based services 17 from the Department of Veterans Affairs or from non-De- 18 partment providers in the community, even if the veteran 19 is not eligible for such services from the Department. 20 (b) PAYMENT FOR SERVICES.—The Secretary may, 21 and is encouraged to, pay for services for aging homeless 22 veterans described in subsection (a). 23 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:03 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1965.IS S1965 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS