I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7469 To establish an advisory commission regarding eligibility for health care furnished by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 1, 2020 Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To establish an advisory commission regarding eligibility for health care furnished 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 ‘‘Modernizing Veterans’ 4 Healthcare Eligibility Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. COMMISSION ON ELIGIBILITY. 6 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION.— 7 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is established a com- 8 mission, to be known as the ‘‘Commission on Eligi- 9 bility’’ (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Commis- 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:31 Jul 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7469.IH H7469 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7469 IH sion’’), to examine eligibility for health care from the 1 Department of Veterans Affairs. 2 (2) MEMBERSHIP.— 3 (A) VOTING MEMBERS.—The Commission 4 shall be composed of 15 voting members who 5 are appointed as follows: 6 (i) Three members appointed by the 7 Speaker of the House of Representatives, 8 at least one of whom shall be a veteran. 9 (ii) Three members appointed by the 10 minority leader of the House of Represent- 11 atives, at least one of whom shall be a vet- 12 eran. 13 (iii) Three members appointed by the 14 majority leader of the Senate, at least one 15 of whom shall be a veteran. 16 (iv) Three members appointed by the 17 minority leader of the Senate, at least one 18 of whom shall be a veteran. 19 (v) Three members appointed by the 20 President, at least two of whom shall be 21 veterans. 22 (B) QUALIFICATIONS.—Of the members 23 appointed under subparagraph (A)— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:31 Jul 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7469.IH H7469 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7469 IH (i) at least one member shall rep- 1 resent an organization recognized by the 2 Secretary of Veterans Affairs for the rep- 3 resentation of veterans under section 5902 4 of title 38, United States Code; 5 (ii) at least one member shall have ex- 6 perience as senior management for a pri- 7 vate integrated health care system with an 8 annual gross revenue of more than 9 $50,000,000; 10 (iii) at least one member shall be fa- 11 miliar with government health care sys- 12 tems, including those systems of the De- 13 partment of Defense, the Indian Health 14 Service, or Federally-qualified health cen- 15 ters (as defined in section 1905(l)(2)(B) of 16 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 17 1396d(l)(2)(B))); and 18 (iv) at least one member shall be fa- 19 miliar with the Veterans Health Adminis- 20 tration but shall not be currently employed 21 by the Veterans Health Administration. 22 (C) DATE.—The appointments of members 23 of the Commission shall be made not later than 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:31 Jul 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7469.IH H7469 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7469 IH one year after the date of the enactment of this 1 Act. 2 (3) PERIOD OF APPOINTMENT.— 3 (A) IN GENERAL.—Members shall be ap- 4 pointed for the life of the Commission. 5 (B) VACANCIES.—Any vacancy in the 6 Commission shall not affect its powers, but 7 shall be filled in the same manner as the origi- 8 nal appointment. 9 (4) INITIAL MEETING.—Not later than 15 days 10 after the date on which eight voting members of the 11 Commission have been appointed, the Commission 12 shall hold its first meeting. 13 (5) MEETINGS.—The Commission shall meet at 14 the call of the Chairperson. 15 (6) QUORUM.—A majority of the members of 16 the Commission shall constitute a quorum, but a 17 lesser number of members may hold hearings. 18 (7) CHAIRPERSON AND VICE CHAIRPERSON.— 19 The President shall designate a member of the com- 20 mission to serve as Chairperson of the Commission. 21 The Commission shall select a Vice Chairperson 22 from among its members. 23 (b) DUTIES OF COMMISSION.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:31 Jul 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7469.IH H7469 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7469 IH (1) EVALUATION AND ASSESSMENT.—The Com- 1 mission shall undertake a comprehensive evaluation 2 and assessment of eligibility to receive health care 3 from the Department of Veterans Affairs. 4 (2) MATTERS EVALUATED AND ASSESSED.—In 5 undertaking the comprehensive evaluation and as- 6 sessment required by paragraph (1), the Commission 7 shall evaluate and assess the following: 8 (A) General eligibility. 9 (B) Eligibility of veterans with service-con- 10 nected conditions. 11 (C) Eligibility of veterans with non-service- 12 connected conditions. 13 (D) Eligibility of veterans who have other 14 insurance or health care coverage (including 15 Medicare and TRICARE). 16 (E) Eligibility of veterans exposed to com- 17 bat. 18 (F) Eligibility of veterans exposed to toxic 19 substances or radiation. 20 (G) Eligibility of veterans with discharges 21 under conditions other than honorable. 22 (H) Eligibility for long-term care. 23 (I) Eligibility for mental health care. 24 (J) Assigned priority for care. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:31 Jul 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7469.IH H7469 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 7469 IH (K) Required copayments and other cost 1 sharing mechanisms. 2 (L) Other matters the Commission deter- 3 mines appropriate. 4 (3) REPORTS.—The Commission shall submit 5 to the President, through the Secretary of Veterans 6 Affairs, reports as follows: 7 (A) Not later than 90 days after the date 8 of the initial meeting of the Commission, an in- 9 terim report on— 10 (i) the findings of the Commission 11 with respect to the evaluation and assess- 12 ment required by this subsection; and 13 (ii) such recommendations as the 14 Commission may have for legislative or ad- 15 ministrative action to revise and simplify 16 eligibility to receive health care from the 17 Department of Veterans Affairs. 18 (B) Not later than one year after the date 19 of the initial meeting of the Commission, a final 20 report on— 21 (i) the findings of the Commission 22 with respect to the evaluation and assess- 23 ment required by this subsection; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:31 Jul 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7469.IH H7469 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 7469 IH (ii) such recommendations as the 1 Commission may have for legislative or ad- 2 ministrative action to revise and simplify 3 eligibility to receive health care from the 4 Department of Veterans Affairs. 5 (c) POWERS OF THE COMMISSION.— 6 (1) HEARINGS.—The Commission may hold 7 such hearings, sit and act at such times and places, 8 take such testimony, and receive such evidence as 9 the Commission considers advisable to carry out this 10 section. 11 (2) INFORMATION FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.— 12 The Commission may secure directly from any Fed- 13 eral agency such information as the Commission 14 considers necessary to carry out this section. Upon 15 request of the Chairperson of the Commission, the 16 head of such agency shall furnish such information 17 to the Commission. 18 (d) COMMISSION PERSONNEL MATTERS.— 19 (1) COMPENSATION OF MEMBERS.— 20 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each member of the 21 Commission who is not an officer or employee 22 of the Federal Government shall be com- 23 pensated at a rate equal to the daily equivalent 24 of the annual rate of basic pay prescribed for 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:31 Jul 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7469.IH H7469 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 7469 IH level IV of the Executive Schedule under section 1 5315 of title 5, United States Code, for each 2 day (including travel time) during which such 3 member is engaged in the performance of the 4 duties of the Commission. 5 (B) OFFICERS OR EMPLOYEES OF THE 6 UNITED STATES.—All members of the Commis- 7 sion who are officers or employees of the United 8 States shall serve without compensation in addi- 9 tion to that received for their services as offi- 10 cers or employees of the United States. 11 (2) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—The members of the 12 Commission shall be allowed travel expenses, includ- 13 ing per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates author- 14 ized for employees of agencies under subchapter I of 15 chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, while 16 away from their homes or regular places of business 17 in the performance of services for the Commission. 18 (3) STAFF.— 19 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Chairperson of the 20 Commission may, without regard to the civil 21 service laws and regulations, appoint and termi- 22 nate an executive director and such other addi- 23 tional personnel as may be necessary to enable 24 the Commission to perform its duties. The em- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:31 Jul 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7469.IH H7469 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 7469 IH ployment of an executive director shall be sub- 1 ject to confirmation by the Commission. 2 (B) COMPENSATION.—The Chairperson of 3 the Commission may fix the compensation of 4 the executive director and other personnel with- 5 out regard to chapter 51 and subchapter III of 6 chapter 53 of title 5, United States Code, relat- 7 ing to classification of positions and General 8 Schedule pay rates, except that the rate of pay 9 for the executive director and other personnel 10 may not exceed the rate payable for level V of 11 the Executive Schedule under section 5316 of 12 such title. 13 (4) DETAIL OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES.— 14 Any Federal Government employee may be detailed 15 to the Commission without reimbursement, and such 16 detail shall be without interruption or loss of civil 17 service status or privilege. 18 (5) PROCUREMENT OF TEMPORARY AND INTER- 19 MITTENT SERVICES.—The Chairperson of the Com- 20 mission may procure temporary and intermittent 21 services under section 3109(b) of title 5, United 22 States Code, at rates for individuals that do not ex- 23 ceed the daily equivalent of the annual rate of basic 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:31 Jul 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7469.IH H7469 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 7469 IH pay prescribed for level V of the Executive Schedule 1 under section 5316 of such title. 2 (e) TERMINATION OF THE COMMISSION.—The Com- 3 mission shall terminate 30 days after the date on which 4 the Commission submits the report under subsection 5 (b)(3)(B). 6 (f) FUNDING.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 7 shall make available to the Commission from amounts ap- 8 propriated or otherwise made available to the Secretary 9 such amounts as the Secretary and the Chairperson of the 10 Commission jointly consider appropriate for the Commis- 11 sion to perform its duties under this section. 12 (g) EXECUTIVE ACTION.— 13 (1) ACTION ON RECOMMENDATIONS.—The 14 President shall require the Secretary of Veterans Af- 15 fairs and such other heads of relevant Federal de- 16 partments and agencies to implement each rec- 17 ommendation set forth in a report submitted under 18 subsection (b)(3) that the President— 19 (A) considers feasible and advisable; and 20 (B) determines can be implemented with- 21 out further legislative action. 22 (2) REPORTS.—Not later than 60 days after 23 the date on which the President receives a report 24 under subsection (b)(3), the President shall submit 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:31 Jul 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7469.IH H7469 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 7469 IH to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Sen- 1 ate and House of Representatives and such other 2 committees of Congress as the President considers 3 appropriate a report setting forth the following: 4 (A) An assessment of the feasibility and 5 advisability of each recommendation contained 6 in the report received by the President. 7 (B) For each recommendation assessed as 8 feasible and advisable under subparagraph (A) 9 the following: 10 (i) Whether such recommendation re- 11 quires legislative action. 12 (ii) If such recommendation requires 13 legislative action, a recommendation con- 14 cerning such legislative action. 15 (iii) A description of any administra- 16 tive action already taken to carry out such 17 recommendation. 18 (iv) A description of any administra- 19 tive action the President intends to be 20 taken to carry out such recommendation 21 and by whom. 22 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:31 Jul 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7469.IH H7469 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS