VA-DoD Shared Medical Facilities Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4152 To amend title 10, United States Code, to provide the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs authority to enter into agreements for the planning, design, and construction, or leasing, of facilities to be operated as shared medical facilities, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUGUST 2, 2019 Mr. KELLY of Mississippi introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs, and Appropriations, for a period to be subsequently de- termined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend title 10, United States Code, to provide the Sec- retary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs authority to enter into agreements for the planning, de- sign, and construction, or leasing, of facilities to be oper- ated as shared medical facilities, 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 ‘‘VA-DoD Shared Med- 4 ical Facilities Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:38 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4152.IH H4152 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4152 IH SEC. 2. AUTHORITY TO PLAN, DESIGN, AND CONSTRUCT, OR 1 LEASE, SHARED MEDICAL FACILITIES. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 55 of title 10, United 3 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 1104 4 the following new section: 5 ‘‘§ 1104a. Shared medical facilities with the Depart- 6 ment of Veterans Affairs 7 ‘‘(a) AGREEMENTS.—The Secretary of Defense and 8 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs may enter into agree- 9 ments with each other for the planning, design, and con- 10 struction, or leasing, of facilities to be operated as shared 11 medical facilities. 12 ‘‘(b) TRANSFER OF AMOUNTS BY SECRETARY OF DE- 13 FENSE.—(1) The Secretary of Defense may transfer to 14 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs amounts as follows: 15 ‘‘(A) Amounts, not in excess of the amount au- 16 thorized by law for an unspecified minor military 17 construction project, for the construction of a shared 18 medical facility if— 19 ‘‘(i) the amount of the share of the De- 20 partment of Defense for the estimated cost of 21 the project does not exceed the amount speci- 22 fied in subsection (a)(2) of section 2805 of this 23 title; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:38 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4152.IH H4152 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4152 IH ‘‘(ii) the other requirements of such section 1 have been met with respect to amounts identi- 2 fied for transfer. 3 ‘‘(B) Amounts appropriated for the Defense 4 Health Program for the purpose of the planning, de- 5 sign, and construction, or the leasing of space, for 6 a shared medical facility. 7 ‘‘(2) The authority to transfer amounts under this 8 section is in addition to any other authority to transfer 9 amounts available to the Secretary of Defense. 10 ‘‘(3) Section 2215 of this title does not apply to a 11 transfer of funds under this subsection. 12 ‘‘(c) TRANSFER OF AMOUNTS BY SECRETARY OF 13 VETERANS AFFAIRS.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 14 may transfer to the Secretary of Defense amounts as fol- 15 lows: 16 ‘‘(1) Amounts appropriated to the Secretary of 17 Veterans Affairs for ‘Construction, minor projects’ 18 for use for the planning, design, or construction of 19 a shared medical facility if the amount of the share 20 of the Department of Veterans Affairs for the esti- 21 mated cost of the project does not exceed the 22 amount specified in section 8104(a)(3)(A) of title 23 38. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:38 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4152.IH H4152 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4152 IH ‘‘(2) Amounts appropriated to the Secretary of 1 Veterans Affairs for ‘Construction, major projects’ 2 for use for the planning, design, or construction of 3 a shared medical facility if— 4 ‘‘(A) the amount of the share of the De- 5 partment of Veterans Affairs for the estimated 6 cost of the project exceeds the amount specified 7 in subsection (a)(3) of section 8104 of title 38; 8 and 9 ‘‘(B) the other requirements of such sec- 10 tion have been met with respect to amounts 11 identified for transfer. 12 ‘‘(3) Amounts appropriated to the applicable 13 appropriation account of the Department of Vet- 14 erans Affairs for the purpose of leasing space for a 15 shared medical facility if the amount of the share of 16 the Department of Veterans Affairs for the esti- 17 mated cost of the project does not exceed the 18 amount specified in section 8104(a)(3)(B) of title 19 38. 20 ‘‘(d) RECEIPT OF AMOUNTS BY SECRETARY OF DE- 21 FENSE.—(1) Any amount transferred to the Secretary of 22 Defense by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for necessary 23 expenses for the planning, design, and construction of a 24 shared medical facility, if the amount of the share of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:38 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4152.IH H4152 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4152 IH Department of Defense for the cost of such project does 1 not exceed the amount specified in section 2805(a)(2) of 2 this title, may be credited to accounts of the Department 3 of Defense available for the construction of a shared med- 4 ical facility. 5 ‘‘(2) Any amount transferred to the Secretary of De- 6 fense by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for the purpose 7 of the planning and design, or the leasing of space, for 8 a shared medical facility may be credited to accounts of 9 the Department of Defense available for such purposes, 10 and may be used for such purposes. 11 ‘‘(3) Using accounts credited with transfers from the 12 Secretary of Veterans Affairs under paragraph (1), the 13 Secretary of Defense may carry out unspecified minor 14 military construction projects, if the share of the Depart- 15 ment of Defense for the cost of such project does not ex- 16 ceed the amount specified in section 2805(a)(2) of this 17 title. 18 ‘‘(e) RECEIPT OF AMOUNTS BY SECRETARY OF VET- 19 ERANS AFFAIRS.—(1) Any amount transferred to the Sec- 20 retary of Veterans Affairs by the Secretary of Defense for 21 necessary expenses for the planning, design, and construc- 22 tion of a shared medical facility, if the amount of the share 23 of the Department of Veterans Affairs for the cost of such 24 project does not exceed the amount specified in section 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:38 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4152.IH H4152 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 4152 IH 8104(a)(3)(A) of title 38, may be credited to the ‘Con- 1 struction, minor projects’ account of the Department of 2 Veterans Affairs and used for the necessary expenses of 3 constructing such shared medical facility. 4 ‘‘(2) Any amount transferred to the Secretary of Vet- 5 erans Affairs by the Secretary of Defense for necessary 6 expenses for the planning, design, and construction of a 7 shared medical facility, if the amount of the share of the 8 Department of Veterans Affairs for the cost of such 9 project exceeds the amount specified in subsection 10 (a)(3)(A) of section 8104 of title 38, may be credited to 11 the ‘Construction, major projects’ account of the Depart- 12 ment of Veterans Affairs and used for the necessary ex- 13 penses of constructing such shared medical facility if the 14 other requirements of such section have been met with re- 15 spect to amounts identified for transfer. 16 ‘‘(3) Any amount transferred to the Secretary of Vet- 17 erans Affairs by the Secretary of Defense for the purpose 18 of leasing space for a shared medical facility may be cred- 19 ited to accounts of the Department of Veterans Affairs 20 available for such purposes, and may be used for such pur- 21 poses. 22 ‘‘(f) MERGER OF AMOUNTS TRANSFERRED.—Any 23 amount transferred under this section shall be merged 24 with, and be available for the same purposes and the same 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:38 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4152.IH H4152 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 4152 IH time period as, the appropriation or fund to which trans- 1 ferred. 2 ‘‘(g) SHARED MEDICAL FACILITY DEFINED.—(1) In 3 this section, the term ‘shared medical facility’ means a 4 building or buildings, or a campus, intended to be used 5 by both the Department of Defense and the Department 6 of Veterans Affairs for the provision of health care serv- 7 ices, whether under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of De- 8 fense or the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and whether 9 or not located on a military installation or on real property 10 under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. 11 ‘‘(2) Such term includes any necessary building and 12 auxiliary structure, garage, parking facility, mechanical 13 equipment, abutting sidewalks, and accommodations for 14 attending personnel.’’. 15 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 16 at the beginning of chapter 55 of such title is amended 17 by inserting after the item relating to section 1104 the 18 following new item: 19 ‘‘1104a. Shared medical facilities with the Department of Veterans Affairs.’’. (c) TECHNICAL CORRECTION.—Paragraph (3) of sec- 20 tion 8104(a) of title 38, United States Code, is amended 21 to read as follows: 22 ‘‘(3) For purposes of this subsection: 23 ‘‘(A) The term ‘major medical facility project’ 24 means a project for the construction, alteration, or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:38 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4152.IH H4152 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 4152 IH acquisition of a medical facility involving a total ex- 1 penditure of more than $20,000,000, but such term 2 does not include an acquisition by exchange, non- 3 recurring maintenance projects of the Department, 4 or the construction, alteration, or acquisition of a 5 shared Federal medical facility for which the De- 6 partment’s estimated share of the project costs does 7 not exceed $20,000,000. 8 ‘‘(B) The term ‘major medical facility lease’ 9 means a lease for space for use as a new medical fa- 10 cility at an average annual rent of more than 11 $1,000,000.’’. 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:38 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4152.IH H4152 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS