II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1952 To amend title 38, United States Code, to expand eligibility for care from the Department of Veterans Affairs to include members of the reserve components of the Armed Forces, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 13, 2023 Mr. SANDERS (for himself, Mr. BOOKER, and Mr. WELCH) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Vet- erans’ Affairs A BILL To amend title 38, United States Code, to expand eligibility for care from the Department of Veterans Affairs to include members of the reserve components of the Armed Forces, 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 ‘‘Reserve Component 4 Healthcare Access and Expansion Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:09 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1952.IS S1952 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 1952 IS SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF HEALTH CARE FROM DEPARTMENT 1 OF VETERANS AFFAIRS TO INCLUDE MEM- 2 BERS OF THE RESERVE COMPONENTS OF 3 THE ARMED FORCES WHO ARE NOT ON AC- 4 TIVE ORDERS. 5 (a) EXPANSION OF CARE.— 6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 1789 of title 38, 7 United States Code, is amended to read as follows: 8 ‘‘§ 1789. Health care for members of the reserve com- 9 ponents of the Armed Forces 10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary (subject to sub- 11 section (b)) shall furnish hospital care and medical serv- 12 ices, including mental health services, to any member of 13 the reserve components of the Armed Forces during any 14 period in which the member is not entitled to benefits 15 under TRICARE Prime (as defined in section 1072(14) 16 of title 10). 17 ‘‘(b) LIMITATION.—The requirement in subsection 18 (a) shall be effective in any fiscal year only to the extent 19 and in the amount provided in advance in appropriations 20 Acts for such purpose. 21 ‘‘(c) CONSULTATION WITH SECRETARY OF DE- 22 FENSE.—The Secretary shall carry out this section in con- 23 sultation with the Secretary of Defense.’’. 24 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec- 25 tions at the beginning of subchapter VIII of chapter 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:09 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1952.IS S1952 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 1952 IS 17 of such title is amended by striking the item re- 1 lating to section 1789 and inserting the following 2 new item: 3 ‘‘1789. Health care for members of the reserve components of the Armed Forces.’’. (b) ENROLLMENT IN PATIENT ENROLLMENT SYS- 4 TEM.— 5 (1) PRIORITY FOR ENROLLMENT.—Section 6 1705(a) of title 38, United States Code, is amend- 7 ed— 8 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 9 by striking ‘‘enrollment of veterans’’ and insert- 10 ing ‘‘enrollment of individuals under such sys- 11 tem’’; and 12 (B) in paragraph (7)— 13 (i) by striking ‘‘Veterans’’ and insert- 14 ing ‘‘(A) Veterans’’; and 15 (ii) by adding at the end the following 16 new subparagraph: 17 ‘‘(B) Members of the reserve components of the 18 Armed Forces for purposes of furnishing hospital 19 care and medical services under section 1789(a) of 20 this title.’’. 21 (2) INITIAL ENROLLMENT.— 22 (A) PHASED APPROACH.—The Secretary of 23 Veterans Affairs shall implement a phased ap- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:09 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1952.IS S1952 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •S 1952 IS proach under subparagraphs (B) and (C) to en- 1 roll all members of the reserve components of 2 the Armed Forces in the patient enrollment sys- 3 tem. 4 (B) UNINSURED.—The Secretary shall en- 5 sure that all members of the reserve compo- 6 nents of the Armed Forces who are uninsured 7 are enrolled in the patient enrollment system by 8 not later than December 31, 2023. 9 (C) OTHER MEMBERS.—The Secretary 10 shall ensure that all members of the reserve 11 components of the Armed Forces not covered by 12 subparagraph (B) are enrolled in the patient 13 enrollment system by not later than December 14 31, 2024. 15 (3) ONGOING ENROLLMENT.—After December 16 31, 2023, the Secretary shall automatically enroll in 17 the patient enrollment system all new members of 18 the reserve components of the Armed Forces upon 19 those members joining the reserve components. 20 (4) STUDY.— 21 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 22 conduct a study to evaluate options for improv- 23 ing access to health care for members of the re- 24 serve components of the Armed Forces, includ- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:09 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1952.IS S1952 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •S 1952 IS ing by conducting a review of priority groups 1 for enrollment in the patient enrollment system. 2 (B) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days 3 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 4 Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on 5 the study conducted under subparagraph (A). 6 (5) CONSULTATION WITH SECRETARY OF DE- 7 FENSE.—The Secretary shall carry out this sub- 8 section and the amendments made by this subsection 9 in consultation with the Secretary of Defense. 10 (6) PATIENT ENROLLMENT SYSTEM DE- 11 FINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘‘patient enroll- 12 ment system’’ means the system of annual patient 13 enrollment of the Department of Veterans Affairs 14 established and operated under section 1705(a) of 15 title 38, United States Code. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:09 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1952.IS S1952 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB