Care for COFA Veterans Act

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1913 To expand access to health care for veterans in the Freely Associated States, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 8, 2023 Mr. SCHATZ (for himself, Ms. MURKOWSKI, Ms. HIRONO, and Mr. BOOZMAN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To expand access to health care for veterans in the Freely Associated States, 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 ‘‘Care for COFA Vet- 4 erans Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF EXISTING AUTHORITIES TO PRO- 6 VIDE HEALTH CARE TO VETERANS IN THE 7 FREELY ASSOCIATED STATES. 8 (a) HEALTH CARE ABROAD.—Section 1724 of title 9 38, United States Code, is amended— 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:14 Jun 29, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1913.IS S1913 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1913 IS (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘subsections 1 (b) and (c)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsections (b), (c), and 2 (f)’’; and 3 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub- 4 section: 5 ‘‘(f)(1) The Secretary may furnish hospital care and 6 medical services in the Freely Associated States for any 7 service-connected disability or non-service-connected dis- 8 ability. 9 ‘‘(2) In furnishing care and services under paragraph 10 (1), the Secretary may furnish such care and services 11 through contracts or other agreements, through reim- 12 bursement, or through the direct provision of care by 13 health care personnel of the Department. 14 ‘‘(3) In this subsection, the term ‘Freely Associated 15 States’ means the Republic of Palau, the Republic of the 16 Marshall Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia, 17 which have each entered into a Compact of Free Associa- 18 tion with the United States.’’. 19 (b) BENEFICIARY TRAVEL FOR TREATMENT OF 20 SERVICE-CONNECTED DISABILITIES.—Section 111 of 21 such title is amended by adding at the end the following 22 new subsection: 23 ‘‘(h)(1) The Secretary may make payments provided 24 for in this section to or for any person specified in sub- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:14 Jun 29, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1913.IS S1913 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1913 IS section (b)(1)(A) for travel specified in that subsection to, 1 from, or within the Freely Associated States. 2 ‘‘(2) In this subsection, the term ‘Freely Associated 3 States’ means the Republic of Palau, the Republic of the 4 Marshall Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia, 5 which have each entered into a Compact of Free Associa- 6 tion with the United States.’’. 7 (c) LEGAL ISSUES.—The Secretary of Veterans Af- 8 fairs, in consultation with the Secretary of State, shall 9 work with the governments of the Freely Associated States 10 to facilitate the furnishing of health services, including 11 telehealth, under the laws administered by the Secretary 12 of Veterans Affairs to veterans in the Freely Associated 13 States, such as by addressing— 14 (1) licensure, certification, registration, and tort 15 issues relating to health care personnel; and 16 (2) matters relating to deliveries of pharma- 17 ceutical products and medical surgical products, in- 18 cluding deliveries of such products through the phar- 19 macy of the Department of Veterans Affairs, to the 20 Freely Associated States. 21 (d) OUTREACH AND ASSESSMENT OF OPTIONS.— 22 During the one-year period beginning on the date of the 23 enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 24 shall— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:14 Jun 29, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1913.IS S1913 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1913 IS (1) conduct robust outreach to and engage with 1 each government of the Freely Associated States; 2 and 3 (2) assess options about the best way to furnish 4 care under section 1724(f) of title 38, United States 5 Code, as added by subsection (a). 6 (e) REPORT ON PROVISION OF HEALTH CARE TO 7 VETERANS IN THE FREELY ASSOCIATED STATES.—Not 8 later than one year after the date of the enactment of this 9 Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to Con- 10 gress a report on the implementation of the authorities 11 provided pursuant to the amendments made by this sec- 12 tion and any additional authorities and resources needed 13 by the Secretary to carry out those authorities, including 14 to carry out the following: 15 (1) Reimbursement of care for non-service-con- 16 nected disabilities in the Freely Associated States 17 under section 1724(f) of title 38, United States 18 Code, as added by subsection (a). 19 (2) Contracts with local clinics and federally 20 qualified health centers (as defined in section 21 1905(l)(2)(B) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 22 1396d(l)(2)(B))) in the Freely Associated States to 23 provide care and services such section 1724(f), as so 24 added. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:14 Jun 29, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1913.IS S1913 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1913 IS (3) Furnishing of telehealth services and tech- 1 nologies to veterans in the Freely Associated States 2 by providers of the Department under such section 3 1724(f), as so added. 4 (4) Payment under section 111(h) of title 38, 5 United States Code, as added by subsection (b), for 6 travel to, from, or within the Freely Associated 7 States for veterans seeking health care for service- 8 connected disabilities. 9 (5) Construction of clinics in the Freely Associ- 10 ated States or leasing of space at military installa- 11 tions, embassy compounds, or consulate facilities to 12 provide care under section 1724(f) of title 38, 13 United States Code, as added by subsection (a). 14 (6) Such other matters as the Secretary con- 15 siders appropriate. 16 (f) FREELY ASSOCIATED STATES DEFINED.—In this 17 section, the term ‘‘Freely Associated States’’ means the 18 Republic of Palau, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, 19 and the Federated States of Micronesia, which have each 20 entered into a Compact of Free Association with the 21 United States. 22 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:14 Jun 29, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1913.IS S1913 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS