Breaking Barriers for Women Veterans Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3036 To improve the provision of health care to women veterans by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 28, 2019 Mr. ROSE of New York introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To improve the provision of health care to women veterans by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. 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 ‘‘Breaking Barriers for 4 Women Veterans Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. WOMEN VETERANS RETROFIT INITIATIVE. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 7 shall retrofit existing medical facilities of the Department 8 of Veterans Affairs with fixtures, materials, and other out- 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:05 Jun 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3036.IH H3036 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3036 IH fitting measures to support the provision of care to women 1 veterans at such facilities. 2 (b) PLAN.—Not later than 180 days after the date 3 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit 4 to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and 5 the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Rep- 6 resentatives a plan to address deficiencies in environment 7 of care for women veterans at medical facilities of the De- 8 partment. 9 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 10 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary 11 $20,000,000 to carry out subsection (a) in addition to 12 amounts otherwise made available to the Secretary for the 13 purposes set forth in such subsection. 14 SEC. 3. STAFFING OF WOMEN’S HEALTH PRIMARY CARE 15 PROVIDERS AT MEDICAL FACILITIES OF THE 16 DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 17 The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall ensure that 18 each medical facility of the Department of Veterans Af- 19 fairs has not fewer than one full-time or part-time wom- 20 en’s health primary care provider whose duties include, to 21 the extent possible, providing training to other health care 22 providers of the Department on the needs of women vet- 23 erans. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:05 Jun 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3036.IH H3036 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3036 IH SEC. 4. ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR PRIMARY CARE AND 1 EMERGENCY CARE CLINICIANS IN WOMEN 2 VETERANS HEALTH CARE MINI-RESIDENCY 3 PROGRAM. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro- 5 priated to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs $1,000,000 6 for each fiscal year for the Women Veterans Health Care 7 Mini-Residency Program of the Department of Veterans 8 Affairs to provide opportunities for participation in such 9 program for primary care and emergency care clinicians. 10 (b) TREATMENT OF AMOUNTS.—The amounts au- 11 thorized to be appropriated under subsection (a) shall be 12 in addition to amounts otherwise made available to the 13 Secretary for the purposes set forth in such subsection. 14 SEC. 5. ESTABLISHMENT OF WOMEN VETERAN TRAINING 15 MODULE FOR NON-DEPARTMENT OF VET- 16 ERANS AFFAIRS HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS. 17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 18 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Vet- 19 erans Affairs shall establish and make available to commu- 20 nity providers a training module that is specific to women 21 veterans. 22 (b) COMMUNITY PROVIDER DEFINED.—In this sec- 23 tion, the term ‘‘community provider’’ means a non-Depart- 24 ment of Veterans Affairs health care provider who pro- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:05 Jun 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3036.IH H3036 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3036 IH vides health care to veterans under the laws administered 1 by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. 2 SEC. 6. STUDY ON STAFFING OF WOMEN VETERAN PRO- 3 GRAM MANAGER PROGRAM AT MEDICAL 4 CENTERS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF VET- 5 ERANS AFFAIRS AND TRAINING OF STAFF. 6 (a) STUDY.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall 7 conduct a study on the use of the Women Veteran Pro- 8 gram Manager program of the Department of Veterans 9 Affairs to determine— 10 (1) if the program is appropriately staffed at 11 each medical center of the Department; 12 (2) whether each medical center of the Depart- 13 ment is staffed with a Women Veteran Program 14 Manager; and 15 (3) whether it would be feasible and advisable 16 to have a Women Veteran Program Ombudsman at 17 each medical center of the Department. 18 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 270 days after the date 19 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit 20 to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and 21 the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Rep- 22 resentatives a report on the study conducted under sub- 23 section (a). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:05 Jun 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3036.IH H3036 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3036 IH (c) TRAINING.—The Secretary shall ensure that all 1 Women Veteran Program Managers and Women Veteran 2 Program Ombudsmen receive the proper training to carry 3 out their duties. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:05 Jun 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3036.IH H3036 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS