VA Emergency Transportation Access Act

[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5530 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 5530

To provide for certain limitations to the authority of the Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs to make changes to the Department of Veterans Affairs 
    rate of payment or reimbursement provided for transportation of 
      veterans and other eligible individuals on special modes of 
                transportation, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 18, 2023

   Mr. Bost introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To provide for certain limitations to the authority of the Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs to make changes to the Department of Veterans Affairs 
    rate of payment or reimbursement provided for transportation of 
      veterans and other eligible individuals on special modes of 
                transportation, 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 ``VA Emergency Transportation Access 
Act''.

SEC. 2. AUTHORITY FOR CHANGES TO DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS RATE OF 
              PAYMENT OR REIMBURSEMENT PROVIDED FOR TRANSPORTATION OF 
              VETERANS AND OTHER ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS ON SPECIAL MODES 
              OF TRANSPORTATION.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs may not change 
the rate of payment or reimbursement provided for the transportation of 
a veteran or other eligible individual on a special mode of 
transportation, as in effect on January 1, 2023, unless--
            (1) such change would increase the rate of such payment or 
        reimbursement; or
            (2) before the effective date of such change, the 
        Secretary--
                    (A) conducts a thorough review and analysis of--
                            (i) the economic effect of the change on 
                        the Department of Veterans Affairs;
                            (ii) the economic effect of the change on 
                        the industry associated with the special mode 
                        of transportation that would be affected by the 
                        change; and
                            (iii) the effect of the change on access to 
                        care for veterans;
                    (B) develops a formal process to ensure that any 
                change made to such rate does not reduce the access to 
                care for veterans; and
                    (C) ensures that the new rate reflects, at a 
                minimum, the actual cost of such transportation.
    (b) Consultation Requirement.--The Secretary shall carry out any 
review under subsection (a)(2)(A) and develop any process under 
subsection (a)(2)(B) in consultation with a committee made up of each 
of the following, who shall be appointed by the Secretary:
            (1) Relevant industry experts.
            (2) Representatives of the Centers for Medicare and 
        Medicaid Services.
            (3) Department employees with subject matter expertise in 
        transportation, access to care, integrated veteran care, rural 
        veterans, Native American veterans, and other matters determine 
        appropriate by the Secretary.
            (4) Representatives of veteran service organizations.
    (c) Template and Process for Affected Contracts.--Not later than 
two years before the effective date of any change made to the rate of 
payment or reimbursement for special modes of transportation pursuant 
to subsection (a) that affects the rate payable under any contract of 
the Department, the Secretary shall--
            (1) establish a template and a standardized process for 
        entering into and making changes to rates in effect under such 
        contract;
            (2) issue guidance about the use of such template and 
        process within the Department and across the industry 
        associated with special modes of transportation; and
            (3) submit to Congress a report that includes a description 
        of the template and process.
    (d) Special Mode of Transportation.--In this section, the term 
``special mode of transportation''--
            (1) means an ambulance, ambulette, air ambulance, 
        wheelchair van, or other mode of transportation specially 
        designed to transport disabled persons; and
            (2) does not include--
                    (A) a mode of transportation not specifically 
                designed to transport disabled persons, such as a bus, 
                subway, taxi, train, or airplane; or
                    (B) a modified, privately owned vehicle, with 
                special adaptive equipment or that is capable of 
                transporting disabled persons.
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