Counting Veterans' Cancer Act of 2023

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1994 To amend title 38, United States Code, to require medical facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs to share certain data with State cancer registries, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 14, 2023 Mr. KELLY (for himself and Mr. TILLIS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To amend title 38, United States Code, to require medical facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs to share certain data with State cancer registries, 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 ‘‘Counting Veterans’ 4 Cancer Act of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 6 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:37 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1994.IS S1994 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1994 IS (1) According to 2017 data from National Pro- 1 gram of Cancer Registries of the Centers for Disease 2 Control and Prevention, approximately 26,500 can- 3 cer cases among veterans were not reported to State 4 cancer registries funded through such Program. 5 (2) Established by Congress in 1992 through 6 the Cancer Registries Amendment Act (Public Law 7 102–515), the National Program of Cancer Reg- 8 istries under section 399B of the Public Health 9 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 280e) collects data on cancer 10 occurrence (including the type, extent, and location 11 of the cancer), the type of initial treatment, and out- 12 comes. 13 (3) The Centers for Disease Control and Pre- 14 vention support central cancer registries in 46 15 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, cer- 16 tain territories of the United States in the Pacific 17 Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. 18 (4) The data obtained by registries described in 19 paragraph (3) combined with data from the Surveil- 20 lance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program of 21 the National Cancer Institute and mortality data 22 from National Center for Health Statistics of the 23 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention com- 24 prise the official United States Cancer Statistics. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:37 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1994.IS S1994 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1994 IS (5) The United States Cancer Statistics reflect 1 all newly diagnosed cancer cases and cancer deaths 2 for the entire population of the United States, ex- 3 cept for unreported veterans. 4 (6) Federal law requires the Centers for Dis- 5 ease Control and Prevention and the National Can- 6 cer Institute to collect cancer data for all newly di- 7 agnosed cancer cases, but that currently cannot be 8 achieved due to frequent lack of reporting by med- 9 ical facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs. 10 (7) Releasing all data from medical facilities of 11 the Department to State cancer registries will pro- 12 vide more complete data for health care providers, 13 public health officials, and researchers to— 14 (A) measure cancer occurrence and trends 15 at the local and national level; 16 (B) inform and prioritize cancer edu- 17 cational and screening programs; 18 (C) evaluate efficacy of prevention efforts 19 and treatment; 20 (D) determine survival rates; 21 (E) conduct research on the etiology, diag- 22 nosis, and treatment of cancer; 23 (F) ensure quality and equity in cancer 24 care; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:37 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1994.IS S1994 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1994 IS (G) plan for health services. 1 (8) Capturing cancer data from medical facili- 2 ties of the Department in State cancer registries and 3 the United States Cancer Statistics can benefit vet- 4 erans by— 5 (A) improving the ability to identify can- 6 cer-related disparities in the veteran commu- 7 nity; 8 (B) improving understanding of the can- 9 cer-related needs of veterans, which can be in- 10 corporated into State Comprehensive Cancer 11 Control planning for screening and treatment 12 programs funded by the Centers for Disease 13 Control and Prevention; and 14 (C) increasing opportunities for veterans 15 with cancer to be included in more clinical trials 16 and cancer-related research and analysis being 17 done outside of the health care system of the 18 Department. 19 (b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to im- 20 prove care for veterans by ensuring all data on veterans 21 diagnosed with cancer are captured by the national cancer 22 registry programs supported by the National Program of 23 Cancer Registries of the Centers for Disease Control and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:37 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1994.IS S1994 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1994 IS Prevention and the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End 1 Results Program of the National Cancer Institute. 2 SEC. 3. REQUIREMENT THAT DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 3 AFFAIRS SHARE DATA WITH STATE CANCER 4 REGISTRIES. 5 (a) SHARING OF DATA WITH STATE CANCER REG- 6 ISTRIES.— 7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 73 8 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by add- 9 ing at the end the following new section: 10 ‘‘§ 7330E. Sharing of data with State cancer registries 11 ‘‘(a) SHARING BY THE DEPARTMENT.— 12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall share 13 with the State cancer registry of each State, if such 14 a registry exists, qualifying data for all individuals 15 who are residents of the State and have received 16 health care under the laws administered by the Sec- 17 retary. 18 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO DATA 19 SHARED.—In sharing data under paragraph (1) with 20 a State cancer registry, the Secretary shall comply 21 with the requirements for non-Department facilities 22 to report data, in a manner that is as complete and 23 timely as possible, without requiring a data use 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:37 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1994.IS S1994 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1994 IS agreement in place between the Department and 1 each State cancer registry— 2 ‘‘(A) to State cancer registries that are 3 supported by the National Program of Cancer 4 Registries of the Centers for Disease Control 5 and Prevention under section 399B of the Pub- 6 lic Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 280e); 7 ‘‘(B) to State cancer registries that are 8 supported by the Surveillance Epidemiology and 9 End Results Program of the National Cancer 10 Institute authorized under the National Cancer 11 Act of 1971 (Public Law 92–218); and 12 ‘‘(C) to State cancer registries as set forth 13 in relevant State laws and regulations that au- 14 thorize a cancer registry. 15 ‘‘(b) QUALIFYING DATA DEFINED.—In this section, 16 the term ‘qualifying data’, with respect to a State cancer 17 registry, means all data required to be provided to the reg- 18 istry pursuant to the authorities specified in subpara- 19 graphs (A) through (C) of subsection (a)(2).’’. 20 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec- 21 tions at the beginning of subchapter II of such chap- 22 ter is amended by inserting after the item relating 23 to section 7330D the following new item: 24 ‘‘7330E. Sharing of data with State cancer registries.’’. VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:37 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\S1994.IS S1994 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1994 IS (b) SHARING BY STATE CANCER REGISTRIES.—The 1 Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Preven- 2 tion shall assist State cancer registries described in sub- 3 paragraphs (A) and (B) of section 7330E(a)(2) of title 4 38, United States Code, as added by subsection (a)(1), 5 in facilitating, to the extent allowed under State laws regu- 6 lating the cancer registry program, the sharing with the 7 Secretary of Veterans Affairs of data in the possession of 8 each such registry regarding diagnosis of cancer for each 9 veteran— 10 (1) enrolled in the system of annual patient en- 11 rollment established and operated under section 12 1705(a) of such title; or 13 (2) registered to receive care from the Depart- 14 ment of Veterans Affairs under section 17.37 of title 15 38, Code of Federal Regulations, or successor regu- 16 lations. 17 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:37 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1994.IS S1994 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS