Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to publish a strategic plan for veterans' long-term care which includes policies and strategies for the delivery of care in domiciliaries, residential treatment facilities, and nursing homes, and for seriously mentally ill veterans.
[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5774 Introduced in House (IH)]
109th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 5774
To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to publish a strategic
plan for long-term care, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 12, 2006
Ms. Harris (for herself and Mrs. Myrick) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to publish a strategic
plan for long-term care, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The number of aging veterans in the United States is
increasing rapidly, with the number of veterans 85 years old
and older expected to increase from approximately 870,000 to
1,300,000 during the next 10 years.
(2) This group of veterans will have a significant need for
nursing home care and will require a variety of
noninstitutional long-term care services.
(3) The Department of Veterans Affairs is struggling to
meet its current obligations and is ill prepared to meet the
long-term care needs of America's aging veteran population.
(4) Long-term care was not included in the Capital Asset
Realignment for Enhanced Services (CARES) process because of a
lack of forecasts and policies needed to project and plan to
meet future demands for long-term care.
(5) The Department of Veterans Affairs has failed to comply
with the CARES Commission's 2003 recommendation to develop a
long-term care strategic plan, which failure has had a
detrimental effect on the welfare of veterans in need of such
care.
SEC. 2. STRATEGIC PLAN FOR LONG-TERM CARE.
(a) Publication.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall publish
a strategic plan for long-term care.
(b) Contents.--The plan published under subsection (a) shall--
(1) comply with the recommendations of the CARES
Commission;
(2) contain policies and strategies for--
(A) the delivery of care in domiciliaries,
residential treatment facilities, and nursing homes and
for seriously mentally ill veterans;
(B) maximizing the use of State veterans homes;
(C) locating domiciliary units as close to patient
populations as feasible; and
(D) identifying freestanding nursing homes as an
acceptable care model;
(3) include data on--
(A) the care of catastrophically disabled veterans;
and
(B) the geographic distribution of catastrophically
disabled veterans;
(4) address the spectrum of noninstitutional long-term care
options, including--
(A) respite care;
(B) home-based primary care;
(C) geriatric evaluation;
(D) adult day health care;
(E) skilled home health care; and
(F) community residential care; and
(5) provide--
(A) cost and quality comparison analyses of all the
different levels of care;
(B) detailed information about geographic
distribution of services and gaps in care; and
(C) specific plans for working with Medicare,
Medicaid, and private insurance companies to expand
care.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
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