Veterans Access to Direct Primary Care Act

Veterans Access to Direct Primary Care Act

This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to implement a five-year pilot program to provide eligible veterans with the option to receive primary care services from a non-VA health care provider under a direct primary care service arrangement through the use of a veteran health savings account. Eligible veterans are those enrolled in the VA health care system.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1520 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1520

   To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a pilot 
program to provide veteran health savings accounts to allow veterans to 
receive primary care furnished under non-Department direct primary care 
             service arrangements, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 2, 2021

   Mr. Roy (for himself, Mr. Cawthorn, Mr. Budd, Mr. Curtis, and Mr. 
  Sessions) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a pilot 
program to provide veteran health savings accounts to allow veterans to 
receive primary care furnished under non-Department direct primary care 
             service arrangements, 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. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Veterans Access to Direct Primary 
Care Act''.

SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM ON ESTABLISHMENT OF VETERAN HEALTH SAVINGS 
              ACCOUNTS TO ALLOW VETERANS TO ACCESS DIRECT PRIMARY CARE 
              SERVICE ARRANGEMENTS.

    (a) Establishment.--Beginning one year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall carry 
out a five-year pilot program under which the Secretary shall provide 
eligible veterans with the option to choose to receive primary care 
services furnished by a non-Department of Veterans Affairs health care 
provider under a direct primary care service arrangement through the 
use of a veteran health savings account described in subsection (c). 
The pilot program shall be conducted under the Center for Innovation 
for Care and Payment under section 1703E of title 38, United States 
Code.
    (b) Eligible Veteran.--For purposes of the pilot program under this 
section, an eligible veteran is a veteran who is enrolled in the 
patient enrollment system of the Department of Veterans Affairs under 
section 1705 of title 38, United States Code.
    (c) Veteran Health Savings Accounts.--The Secretary shall provide 
to an eligible veteran who participates in the pilot program a veterans 
health savings account that may be used--
            (1) to purchase primary care services furnished through a 
        non-Department direct primary care service arrangement; and
            (2) for associated costs, including--
                    (A) periodic fees paid to a physician for a defined 
                set of medical services or for the right to receive 
                medical services on an as-needed basis;
                    (B) amounts paid or prepaid for medical services 
                designed to screen for, diagnose, cure, mitigate, 
                treat, or prevent disease and promote wellness; and
                    (C) prescription or non-prescription medicines or 
                drugs.
    (d) Eligibility for Department Medical Care.--A veteran who chooses 
to receive a veteran health savings account described under subsection 
(c) may not receive medical care furnished by the Department of 
Veterans Affairs that is included in the direct primary care service 
arrangement described in such subsection during the period the veteran 
participates in the pilot program.
    (e) Prevention of Fraudulent Activity.--The Secretary shall 
establish a mechanism to prevent fraudulent activity in connection with 
payments made under this section and to ensure participating veterans 
use health savings accounts only as authorized under this section.
    (f) Amounts Deposited in Accounts.--The Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs shall--
            (1) determine the annual amount to be deposited in a 
        veteran health savings account described in subsection (c) 
        using calculations conducted by the Secretary and in 
        consultation with an actuarial service; and
            (2) ensure that each participating eligible veteran 
        receives such amount on an annual basis during the period the 
        veteran participates in the pilot program.
    (g) Direct Primary Care Service Arrangement.--In this section, the 
term ``direct primary care service arrangement'' means an agreement 
under which a defined set of medical services are provided to a patient 
by a physician for fixed periodic fees.
    (h) Reports.--
            (1) Implementation reports.--For each calendar quarter 
        during the two-year period beginning on the date of the 
        enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the 
        Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and House of 
        Representatives a report on the implementation of this section. 
        One such report shall include a description of the final design 
        of the pilot program.
            (2) Annual reports.--Not later than one year after the date 
        on which the final implementation report required by paragraph 
        (1) is submitted, and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall 
        submit to the Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and 
        House of Representatives a report on the results of the pilot 
        program under this section.
    (i) No Additional Appropriations.--Amounts required to carry out 
this section shall be made available from amounts otherwise authorized 
to be appropriated for the Veterans Health Administration.
    (j) Termination.--The authority of the Secretary to deposit funds 
in a veteran health savings account under this section shall terminate 
on the date that is five years after the date of the enactment of this 
Act.
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