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[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6595 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 6595
To direct the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans
Affairs to improve the availability of care for veterans at facilities
of the Department of Defense.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
December 10, 2025
Mr. Schmidt (for himself and Ms. Elfreth) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in
addition to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, for a period to be
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration
of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee
concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans
Affairs to improve the availability of care for veterans at facilities
of the Department of Defense.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. IMPROVEMENT OF AVAILABILITY OF CARE FOR VETERANS FROM
FACILITIES AND PROVIDERS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE.
(a) Action Plans.--
(1) In general.--Pursuant to the authorities under section
8111 of title 38, United States Code, and section 1104 of title
10, United States Code, the Secretary of Defense and the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall develop and implement
action plans at covered facilities--
(A) to strengthen sharing of resources between the
Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans
Affairs under existing statutory authority;
(B) to improve communication between the Department
of Veterans Affairs and pertinent command and director
leadership of military medical treatment facilities;
(C) to increase utilization of military medical
treatment facilities with excess capacity or space;
(D) to increase case volume and complexity for
graduate professional and other medical education
programs of the Department of Defense and the
Department of Veterans Affairs; and
(E) to increase access to care for enrolled
veterans in areas in which a military medical treatment
facility is located that is identified by the Secretary
of Defense as having excess capacity or space.
(2) Matters to be included.--The action plans required
under paragraph (1) shall include the following:
(A) Cross-credentialing and privileging of health
care providers to jointly care for enrolled veterans in
medical facilities of the Department of Defense and the
Department of Veterans Affairs.
(B) Expedited access to installations of the
Department of Defense for staff of the Department of
Veterans Affairs and enrolled veterans.
(C) The designation of a coordinator within each
covered facility to serve as a liaison between the
Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans
Affairs and to lead the implementation of such action
plan.
(D) A mechanism for monitoring the effectiveness of
such action plan on an ongoing basis, to include
establishing relevant performance goals and collecting
data to assess progress towards those goals.
(E) Prioritized integration of relevant information
technology and other systems or processes to enable
seamless information sharing, medical records referrals
and ancillary orders and results, payment methodologies
and billing processes, and workload attribution when
personnel of the Department of Veterans Affairs provide
services at facilities of the Department of Defense or
when personnel of the Department of Defense provide
services at facilities of the Department of Veterans
Affairs.
(F) An oversight and accountability plan for the
handling of adverse medical events and complaints from
patients or staff, including a requirement to track any
significant adverse medical events and provide
information on such events in the briefing required
under subsection (f).
(G) Any other matter that the Secretary of Defense
and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs consider
appropriate.
(b) Approval of Action Plans.--Before any action plan required
under subsection (a) with respect to a covered facility shall be
considered complete and submitted to the appropriate committees of
Congress pursuant to subsection (e), the Secretary of Defense and the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall ensure that approval for the action
plan is obtained from--
(1) the co-chairs of the Department of Veterans Affairs-
Department of Defense Joint Executive Committee established
under section 320 of title 38, United States Code;
(2) the local installation commander for the covered
facility of the Department of Defense; and
(3) the director of the relevant medical center of the
Department of Veterans Affairs with respect to any covered
facility of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
(c) Requirements Relating to Sharing Agreements.--
(1) Lead coordinator.--The Secretary of Defense and the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall ensure that there is a lead
coordinator at each facility of the Department of Defense or
the Department of Veterans Affairs, as the case may be, with
respect to which there is a sharing agreement in place.
(2) List of agreements.--The Secretary of Defense and the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall maintain on a publicly
available website a list of the sharing agreements in place
between the medical facilities of the Department of Defense and
the Department of Veterans Affairs.
(d) Patient Safety, Complaints, and Accountability.--
(1) Secure complaint process.--
(A) In general.--The Secretary of Defense and the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall establish a secure
mechanism for enrolled veterans to report concerns
regarding care received under an action plan required
under subsection (a).
(B) Elements of mechanism.--The mechanism
established under subparagraph (A) shall protect
confidentiality, prohibit retaliation, and ensure
transmission of each complaint to both the Department
of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
(2) Documentation and review.--
(A) Documentation.--The Secretary of Defense and
the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall maintain
records of all complaints, adverse events, and safety
incidents involving patients or staff pursuant to the
action plans required by subsection (a).
(B) Review.--The records maintained under
subparagraph (A) shall be jointly reviewed on a
quarterly basis by designated officials of the
Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans
Affairs.
(3) Notification and investigation.--Any allegation of
abuse, neglect, or misconduct involving personnel of the
Department of Defense in the treatment of a veteran under an
action plan shall be promptly referred by the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs, the Secretary of Defense, and the commander
or medical center director, as applicable, of the facility
concerned to the Office of Inspector General of the Department
of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
(4) Interim protective measures.--Pending resolution of any
investigation relating to conduct under an action plan, the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs may suspend referrals of veterans
to the provider or facility concerned.
(e) Submission to Congress.--Not later than 30 days following the
completion of the action plans required under subsection (a), the
Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit
such plans to the appropriate committees of Congress.
(f) Annual Joint Briefings on Action Plans.--Not later than one
year after submitting the action plans to the appropriate committees of
Congress pursuant to subsection (e), the Secretary of Defense and the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall provide to the appropriate
committees of Congress a briefing containing--
(1) a status update on the progress of implementing the
action plans required under this section;
(2) recommendations for developing subsequent action plans
for each facility with respect to which there is a sharing
agreement in place;
(3) the number of patients served pursuant to the action
plans, broken down by facility and service type;
(4) the number of health care providers who were cross-
credentialed or privileged to jointly care for beneficiaries in
medical facilities of the Department of Defense or the
Department of Veterans Affairs pursuant to the action plans,
broken down by facility and service type;
(5) the costs incurred and reimbursed between the
Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs
pursuant to the action plans, including an accounting of the
use of the DOD-VA Health Care Sharing Incentive Fund
established under section 8111(d)(2) of title 38, United States
Code, if applicable;
(6) a summary of the effectiveness of the mechanisms
developed pursuant to the action plans related to oversight,
accountability, data-gathering, and performance goals as well
as any recommendations for improving such mechanisms;
(7) a summary of any patient safety incidents or complaints
and associated resolutions as well as any recommendations for
improving the patient safety and complaint resolution process
under the actions plans; and
(8) a summary of the integration of information technology
and other systems pursuant to the action plans as well as
barriers to further integration and recommendations for
improving such integration.
(g) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be
construed to allow the Department of Defense or the Department of
Veterans Affairs to require a veteran to seek care at a facility of the
Department of Defense or to allow military medical treatment facilities
to be used as a facility of the Department of Veterans Affairs for
purposes of determining eligibility of veterans for care from a non-
Department of Veterans Affairs provider under the eligibility access
standards developed under section 1703B of title 38, United States
Code.
(h) Sunset.--This section shall terminate on September 30, 2028.
(i) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) The term ``appropriate committees of Congress'' means--
(A) the Committee on Armed Services and the
Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate; and
(B) the Committee on Armed Services and the
Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the House of
Representatives.
(2) The term ``covered facility'' means--
(A) a military medical treatment facility (as such
term is defined in section 1073c of title 10, United
States Code); or
(B) a medical facility of the Department of
Veterans Affairs described in section 8101(3) of title
38, United States Code.
(3) The term ``enrolled veteran'' means a veteran enrolled
in the patient enrollment system of the Department of Veterans
Affairs established and operated under section 1705(a) of title
38, United States Code.
(4) The term ``sharing agreement'' means an agreement for
the sharing of health-care resources between the Department of
Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs under section
1104 of title 10, United States Code, or section 8111 of title
38, United States Code.
(5) The term ``veteran'' has the meaning given that term in
section 101 of title 38, United States Code.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
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