Vietnam-Era Veterans Hepatitis C Testing Enhancement Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2816 To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a pilot program to increase access to hepatitis C testing for Vietnam-era veterans, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 16, 2019 Ms. STEFANIK (for herself, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. RYAN, Mr. KILMER, Mr. SUOZZI, Mr. COOK, Mr. KING of New York, Mr. ESPAILLAT, and Miss GONZA´LEZ-COLO´N of Puerto Rico) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a pilot program to increase access to hepatitis C testing for Vietnam-era veterans, 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 ‘‘Vietnam-Era Veterans 4 Hepatitis C Testing Enhancement Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:31 May 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2816.IH H2816 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2816 IH SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM TO INCREASE ACCESS TO HEPA- 1 TITIS C TESTING FOR VIETNAM-ERA VET- 2 ERANS. 3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Beginning not later than 180 4 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec- 5 retary of Veterans Affairs shall carry out a one-year pilot 6 program to make hepatitis C testing available to covered 7 veterans at certain outreach events organized by veterans 8 service organizations. 9 (b) SELECTION OF VETERAN INTEGRATED SERVICE 10 NETWORKS.—The Secretary shall select five Veterans In- 11 tegrated Service Networks of the Department of Veterans 12 Affairs in which to carry out the pilot program as follows: 13 (1) Two such networks that predominantly 14 serve rural areas. 15 (2) Three such networks that predominantly 16 serve urban areas. 17 (c) TERMINATION DATE.—The pilot program de- 18 scribed under subsection (a) shall terminate on the date 19 that is one year after the date on which the Secretary be- 20 gins to carry out such program. 21 (d) AUTOMATIC TRIGGER.—If at least 350,000 vet- 22 erans are tested for hepatitis C by the termination date 23 described in subsection (c), the Secretary shall expand the 24 program to all Veterans Integrated Service Networks of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:31 May 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2816.IH H2816 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2816 IH the Department not later than one year after the date on 1 which the pilot program ends. 2 (e) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 180 days 3 after the date on which the pilot program ends, the Sec- 4 retary shall submit to Congress a report on the pilot pro- 5 gram that includes— 6 (1) the number of covered veterans tested for 7 hepatitis C under the pilot program; and 8 (2) a list of resources needed to expand the 9 pilot program to all Veterans Integrated Service 10 Networks for the length of time necessary to test all 11 covered veterans for hepatitis C. 12 (f) COVERED VETERAN DEFINED.—In this Act, the 13 term ‘‘covered veteran’’ means a person who served in the 14 active military, naval, or air service between February 28, 15 1961, and May 7, 1975, and was discharged or released 16 therefrom under conditions other than dishonorable, re- 17 gardless of whether such person is enrolled in the patient 18 enrollment system of the Department of Veterans Affairs 19 established under section 1705(a) of title 38, United 20 States Code. 21 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—No addi- 22 tional funds are authorized to carry out the requirements 23 of this Act. Such requirements shall be carried out using 24 amounts otherwise authorized to be appropriated to the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:31 May 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2816.IH H2816 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2816 IH Department of Veterans Affairs for the express purpose 1 of providing hepatitis C-related care. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:31 May 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2816.IH H2816 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS