Jennifer Kepner HOPE Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4137 To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the eligibility of certain individuals exposed to burn pits for hospital care, medical serv- ices, and nursing home care furnished by the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 30, 2019 Mr. RUIZ (for himself, Mr. CASTRO of Texas, Mr. BILIRAKIS, and Mr. KING of New York) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the eligibility of certain individuals exposed to burn pits for hospital care, medical services, and nursing home care furnished 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 ‘‘Jennifer Kepner 4 Healthcare for Open air burn Pit Exposure Act’’ or the 5 ‘‘Jennifer Kepner HOPE Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:30 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4137.IH H4137 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 4137 IH SEC. 2. ELIGIBILITY OF INDIVIDUALS EXPOSED TO BURN 1 PITS FOR HOSPITAL CARE, MEDICAL SERV- 2 ICES, AND NURSING HOME FURNISHED BY 3 THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1710 of title 38, United 5 States Code, is amended— 6 (1) in subsection (a)(2)(F), by inserting ‘‘burn 7 pit,’’ after ‘‘radiation,’’; and 8 (2) in subsection (e)— 9 (A) in paragraph (1), by adding at the end 10 the following new subparagraph: 11 ‘‘(G)(i) Subject to paragraph (2), an individual de- 12 scribed in clause (ii) is eligible for hospital care, medical 13 services, and nursing home care under subsection 14 (a)(2)(F) notwithstanding that there is insufficient med- 15 ical evidence to conclude that a disease or disability of the 16 individual is or is not associated with exposure to an open 17 air burn pit. 18 ‘‘(ii) An individual described in this clause is an indi- 19 vidual who, on or after January 1, 1990, served as a mem- 20 ber of the Armed Forces in support of a contingency oper- 21 ation and was based or stationed at a location where an 22 open air burn pit was in use. 23 ‘‘(iii) In this subparagraph, the term ‘open air burn 24 pit’ means a place where— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:30 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4137.IH H4137 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 4137 IH ‘‘(I) solid waste is disposed of by burning in the 1 outdoor air; and 2 ‘‘(II) a commercially manufactured incinerator 3 or other equipment specifically designed and manu- 4 factured for the burning of solid waste is not in 5 use.’’; and 6 (B) in paragraph (2)(B), by striking ‘‘or 7 (F)’’ and inserting ‘‘(F), or (G)’’. 8 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 9 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to hospital care, 10 medical services, and nursing home care furnished on or 11 after the date that is 180 days after the date of the enact- 12 ment of this Act. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:30 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4137.IH H4137 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS