Leave no Veteran Behind Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4154 To direct the Under Secretary of Health of the Department of Veterans Affairs to contact certain veterans to encourage such veterans to receive medical examinations furnished or paid for by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUGUST 2, 2019 Mrs. LEE of Nevada (for herself and Mr. WATKINS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To direct the Under Secretary of Health of the Department of Veterans Affairs to contact certain veterans to encour- age such veterans to receive medical examinations fur- nished or paid for 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 ‘‘Leave no Veteran Be- 4 hind Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. MEDICAL EXAMINATIONS FOR CERTAIN VETERANS. 6 (a) NOTICE.—Not later than 90 days after the date 7 of the enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary of 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:38 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4154.IH H4154 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4154 IH Health of the Department of Veterans Affairs shall seek 1 to contact each covered veteran by mail, telephone, or 2 email to encourage each covered veteran to receive medical 3 examinations including the following: 4 (1) A comprehensive physical examination. 5 (2) A comprehensive mental health examina- 6 tion. 7 (3) A comprehensive eye examination if the cov- 8 ered veteran has not received such an examination 9 in the year immediately preceding the date of such 10 examination. 11 (4) A comprehensive audiological examination if 12 the covered veteran has not received such an exam- 13 ination in the year immediately preceding the date 14 of such examination. 15 (b) EXAMINATIONS.— 16 (1) VA HEALTH CARE FACILITIES.—If a cov- 17 ered veteran elects to receive more than one exam- 18 ination described in subsection (a) at a health care 19 facility of the Department of Veterans Affairs, the 20 Under Secretary of Health shall seek to furnish all 21 such scheduled examinations on the same day. 22 (2) COMMUNITY CARE.—Pursuant to subsection 23 (d) or (e) of section 1703 of title 38, United States 24 Code, a covered veteran may receive an examination 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:38 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4154.IH H4154 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4154 IH described in subsection (a) from a health care pro- 1 vider described in subsection (c) of that section. 2 (c) TRANSPORTATION.— 3 (1) BENEFICIARY TRAVEL PROGRAM.—Pursu- 4 ant to section 111 of title 38, United States Code, 5 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs may pay for a 6 rural covered veteran to travel to a health care facil- 7 ity to receive an examination described in subsection 8 (a). 9 (2) SHUTTLE SERVICE.—The Under Secretary 10 of Health shall seek to enter into agreements with 11 non-profit organizations to provide shuttle service to 12 rural covered veterans for examinations described in 13 subsection (a). 14 (d) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 18 months 15 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 16 of Veterans Affairs shall submit to Congress a report re- 17 garding how many covered veterans scheduled examina- 18 tions described in subsection (a) after receiving a letter, 19 telephone call, or email under that subsection. 20 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 21 (1) The term ‘‘covered veteran’’ means a vet- 22 eran who— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:38 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4154.IH H4154 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4154 IH (A) is enrolled in the system of annual pa- 1 tient enrollment under section 1705 of title 38, 2 United States Code; and 3 (B) has not received health care furnished 4 or paid for by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 5 during the two years immediately preceding the 6 date in subsection (a)(1). 7 (2) The term ‘‘rural covered veteran’’ means a 8 covered veteran— 9 (A) who lives in an area served by the Of- 10 fice of Rural Health of the Department of Vet- 11 erans Affairs; and 12 (B) whom the Under Secretary of Health 13 determines requires assistance to travel to a 14 health care facility to receive an examination 15 described in subsection (a). 16 (3) The term ‘‘veteran’’ has the meaning given 17 that term in section 101 of title 38, United States 18 Code. 19 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:38 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4154.IH H4154 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS