Health Records Enhancement Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2333 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2333

   To require the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans 
    Affairs to permit supplementation of health records of deceased 
                   veterans, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 17, 2025

   Mr. Welch introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
             referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To require the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans 
    Affairs to permit supplementation of health records of deceased 
                   veterans, 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 ``Health Records Enhancement Act''.

SEC. 2. SUPPLEMENTATION OF HEALTH RECORDS OF DECEASED VETERANS.

    (a) In General.--Not later than one year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs shall jointly take actions necessary to ensure that 
the health records of the Department of Defense and the Department of 
Veterans Affairs may be updated with observed health conditions and 
other relevant health information of a deceased enrollee by--
            (1) an individual designated by such deceased enrollee; or
            (2) if no such individual is designated, an immediate 
        family member of such deceased enrollee.
    (b) Designation.--The Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs shall jointly provide for a process by which an 
individual may make a designation for purposes of subsection (a)(1).
    (c) No Modification of Health Information.--Any update under 
subsection (a) shall supplement information contained in the health 
records of a deceased enrollee and shall not modify information 
contained in such records.
    (d) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Immediate family member.--The term ``immediate family 
        member'', with respect to a deceased enrollee, means--
                    (A) the spouse, parent, brother, sister, or adult 
                child of the individual; or
                    (B) an adult person to whom the individual stands 
                in loco parentis.
            (2) Deceased enrollee.--The term ``deceased enrollee'' 
        means any individual who, at the time of his or her death--
                    (A) was 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; or
                    (B) was entitled to care under the TRICARE program, 
                as defined in section 1072 of title 10, United States 
                Code.
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