To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to develop a plan for allocation of health care resources by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit to the Congress and to implement (unless disapproved) a plan for the allocation of Department of Veterans Affairs health care resources among its health care facilities so as to ensure similar access for eligible veterans having similar economic status, eligibility priority, or medical conditions, regardless of their U.S. region of residence.

Requires that the plan: (1) reflect the Veterans Integrated Service Network and the Resource Planning and Management System developed to account for expected workload and to ensure fairness to facilities that provide cost-efficient health care; and (2) include procedures to identify reasons for variations in operating costs among similar facilities and ways to improve the allocation of resources among facilities so as to promote efficient use of resources and provision of quality health care.

[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3346 Introduced in House (IH)]







104th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3346

  To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to develop a plan for 
   allocation of health care resources by the Department of Veterans 
                                Affairs.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 25, 1996

    Mrs. Thurman (for herself, Ms. Brown of Florida, Mr. Foley, Mr. 
 Bilirakis, Mr. Hastings of Florida, Mr. Miller of Florida, Mr. Mica, 
   Mr. Canady of Florida, and Mr. Weldon of Florida) introduced the 
   following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans' 
                                Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to develop a plan for 
   allocation of health care resources by the Department of Veterans 
                                Affairs.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. PLAN FOR ALLOCATION OF HEALTH CARE RESOURCES BY THE 
              DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.

    (a) Plan.--(1) The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall develop a 
plan for the allocation of health care resources (including personnel 
and funds) of the Department of Veterans Affairs among the health care 
facilities of the Department so as to ensure that veterans having 
similar economic status, similar eligibility priority, or similar 
medical conditions and who are eligible for medical care in those 
facilities have similar access to care in those facilities, regardless 
of the region of the United States in which they reside.
    (2) The plan shall reflect, to the maximum extent possible, the 
Veterans Integrated Service Network, as well as the Resource Planning 
and Management System developed by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to 
account for forecasts in expected workload and to ensure fairness to 
facilities that provide cost-efficient health care. The plan shall 
include procedures to identify reasons for variations in operating 
costs among similar facilities and ways to improve the allocation of 
resources among facilities so as to promote efficient use of resources 
and provision of quality health care.
    (3) The Secretary shall prepare the plan in consultation with the 
Under Secretary for Health of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
    (b) Plan Elements.--The plan under subsection (a) shall set forth--
            (1) milestones for achieving the goal referred to in that 
        subsection; and
            (2) a means of evaluating the success of the Secretary in 
        meeting that goal through the plan.
    (c) Submittal to Congress.--The Secretary shall submit the plan 
developed under subsection (a) to Congress not later than 180 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act.
    (d) Plan Implementation.--The Secretary shall implement the plan 
developed under subsection (a) within 60 days of submitting it to 
Congress under subsection (b), unless within such period the Secretary 
notifies the appropriate committees of Congress that the plan will not 
be implemented, along with an explanation of why the plan will not be 
implemented.
                                 <all>