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Public Law 104-262
104th Congress
An Act
To amend title 38, United States Code, to reform eligibility for health
care provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs, to authorize major
medical facility construction projects for the Department, to improve
administration of health care by the Department, and for other
purposes. <<NOTE: Oct. 9, 1996 - [H.R. 3118]>>
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled, <<NOTE: Veterans' Health
Care Eligibility Reform Act of 1996.>>
SECTION 1. <<NOTE: 38 USC 101 note.>> SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Veterans' Health
Care Eligibility Reform Act of 1996''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents of this Act is as
follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. References to title 38, United States Code.
TITLE I--ELIGIBILITY REFORM
Sec. 101. Eligibility for hospital care and medical services.
Sec. 102. Revision in authorities for provision of priority health care
for certain veterans exposed to specified toxic substances.
Sec. 103. Prosthetics and preventive care.
Sec. 104. Management of health care.
Sec. 105. Authorization of appropriations.
Sec. 106. Assessment of implementation and operation.
TITLE II--CONSTRUCTION AUTHORIZATION
Sec. 201. Authorization of major medical facility projects.
Sec. 202. Authorization of major medical facility leases.
Sec. 203. Authorization of appropriations.
Sec. 204. Strategic planning.
Sec. 205. Revision to prospectus requirements.
Sec. 206. Construction authorization requirements.
Sec. 207. Terminology changes.
TITLE III--HEALTH CARE AND ADMINISTRATION
Subtitle A--Health Care Sharing and Administration
Sec. 301. Revision of authority to share medical facilities, equipment,
and information.
Sec. 302. Improved efficiency in health care resource management.
Sec. 303. Personnel furnishing shared resources.
Sec. 304. Waiting period for administrative reorganizations.
Sec. 305. Repeal of limitations on contracts for conversion of
performance of activities of Department health-care
facilities and revised annual reporting requirement.
Subtitle B--Care of Women Veterans
Sec. 321. Mammography quality standards.
Sec. 322. Patient privacy for women patients.
Sec. 323. Assessment of use by women veterans of Department health
services.
Sec. 324. Reporting requirements.
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Subtitle C--Readjustment Counseling and Mental Health Care
Sec. 331. Expansion of eligibility for readjustment counseling and
certain related counseling services.
Sec. 332. Reports relating to Vet Centers.
Sec. 333. Advisory Committee on the Readjustment of Veterans.
Sec. 334. Centers for mental illness research, education, and clinical
activities.
Sec. 335. Committee on Care of Severely Chronically Mentally Ill
Veterans.
Subtitle D--Other Provisions
Sec. 341. Hospice care study.
Sec. 342. Payment to States of per diem for veterans receiving adult day
health care.
Sec. 343. Research corporations.
Sec. 344. Veterans Health Administration headquarters.
Sec. 345. Disbursement agreements relating to medical residents and
interns.
Sec. 346. Authority to suspend special pay agreements for physicians and
dentists who enter residency training programs.
Sec. 347. Remunerated outside professional activities by Veterans Health
Administration personnel.
Sec. 348. Modification of restrictions on real property, Milwaukee
County,
Wisconsin.
Sec. 349. Modification of restrictions on real property, Cheyenne,
Wyoming.
Sec. 350. Name of Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Johnson
City, Tennessee.
Sec. 351. Report on health care needs of veterans in east central
Florida.
Sec. 352. Evaluation of health status of spouses and children of Persian
Gulf War veterans.
SEC. 2. REFERENCES TO TITLE 38, UNITED STATES CODE.
Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in this Act an
amendment or repeal is expressed in terms of an amendment to or repeal
of a section or other provision, the reference shall be considered to be
made to a section or other provision of title 38, United States Code.
TITLE I--ELIGIBILITY REFORM
SEC. 101. ELIGIBILITY FOR HOSPITAL CARE AND MEDICAL SERVICES.
(a) New Criteria for Eligibility for Care.--Section 1710(a) is
amended to read as follows:
``(a)(1) The Secretary (subject to paragraph (4)) shall furnish
hospital care and medical services, and may furnish nursing home care,
which the Secretary determines to be needed--
``(A) to any veteran for a service-connected disability; and
``(B) to any veteran who has a service-connected disability
rated at 50 percent or more.
``(2) The Secretary (subject to paragraph (4)) shall furnish
hospital care and medical services, and may furnish nursing home care,
which the Secretary determines to be needed to any veteran--
``(A) who has a compensable service-connected disability
rated less than 50 percent;
``(B) whose discharge or release from active military,
naval, or air service was for a compensable disability that was
incurred or aggravated in the line of duty;
``(C) who is in receipt of, or who, but for a suspension
pursuant to section 1151 of this title (or both a suspension and
the receipt of retired pay), would be entitled to disability
compensation, but only to the extent that such veteran's
continuing eligibility for such care is provided for in the
judgment or settlement provided for in such section;
``(D) who is a former prisoner of war;
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``(E) who is a veteran of the Mexican border period or of
World War I;
``(F) who was exposed to a toxic substance, radiation, or
environmental hazard, as provided in subsection (e); or
``(G) who is unable to defray the expenses of necessary care
as determined under section 1722(a) of this title.
``(3) In the case of a veteran who is not described in paragraphs
(1) and (2), the Secretary may, to the extent resources and facilities
are available and subject to the provisions of subsections (f) and (g),
furnish hospital care, medical services, and nursing home care which the
Secretary determines to be needed.
``(4) The requirement in paragraphs (1) and (2) that the Secretary
furnish hospital care and medical services shall be effective in any
fiscal year only to the extent and in the amount provided in advance in
appropriations Acts for such purposes.''.
(b) Transfer of Provision.--Chapter 17 is amended--
(1) by redesignating subsection (g) of section 1710 as
subsection (h); and
(2) by transferring subsection (f) of section 1712 to
section 1710 and inserting such subsection so as to appear after
subsection (f), redesignating such subsection as subsection (g),
and amending such subsection by striking out ``section
1710(a)(2) of this title'' in paragraph (1) and inserting in
lieu thereof ``subsection (a)(3) of this section''.
(c) Repeal of Separate Outpatient Care Priorities.--(1) Section 1712
is amended--
(A) by striking out subsections (a) and (i);
(B) by redesignating subsections (b), (c), (d), (h) and (j),
as subsections (a), (b), (c), (d), and (e), respectively; and
(C) in subsection (b), as so redesignated, by striking out
``subsection (b) of this section'' and inserting in lieu thereof
``subsection (a)''.
(2)(A) The heading of such section is amended to read as follows:
``Sec. 1712. Dental care; drugs and medicines for certain disabled
veterans; vaccines''.
(B) The item relating to such section in the table of sections at
the beginning of chapter 17 is amended to read as follows:
``1712. Dental care; drugs and medicines for certain disabled veterans;
vaccines.''.
(d) Conforming Amendments to Chapter 17.--Chapter 17 is further
amended as follows:
(1) Section 1701(6)(B)(i) is amended--
(A) in subclause (I), by striking out ``section
1712(a)'' and inserting in lieu thereof ``paragraph (1)
or (2) of section 1710(a)''; and
(B) in subclause (II), by striking out ``section
1712(a)(5)(B)'' and inserting in lieu thereof
``paragraph (1), (2) or (3) of section 1710(a)''.
(2) Section 1710(c)(1) is amended by striking out ``section
1712(b)'' and inserting in lieu thereof ``section 1712(a)''.
(3) Section 1710(e)(1)(C) is amended by striking out
``hospital care and nursing home care under subsection (a)(1)(G)
of this section'' and inserting in lieu thereof ``hospital care,
medical services, and nursing home care under subsection
(a)(2)(F)''.
(4) Section 1710(f) is amended--
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(A) in paragraph (1), by striking out ``subsection
(a)(2)'' and inserting in lieu thereof ``subsection
(a)(3)''; and
(B) in paragraph (3)(E)--
(i) by striking out ``section 1712(a) of this
title'' and inserting in lieu thereof ``paragraph
(3) of subsection (a)''; and
(ii) by striking out ``section 1712(f) of this
title'' and inserting in lieu thereof ``subsection
(g)''; and
(C) in paragraph (3)(F), by striking out ``section
1712(f) of this title'' and inserting in lieu thereof
``subsection (g)''.
(5) Section 1712A is amended--
(A) in subsection (b)(1), by striking out ``under
the conditions specified in section 1712(a)(5)(B) of
this title''; and
(B) in subsection (e)(1), by striking out ``sections
1712(a)(1)(B) and 1703(a)(2)'' and inserting in lieu
thereof ``sections 1703(a)(2) and 1710(a)(1)(B)''.
(6) Section 1717(a) is amended--
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking out ``section
1712(a)'' and inserting in lieu thereof ``section
1710(a)''; and
(B) in paragraph (2)--
(i) in subparagraph (A), by striking out
``paragraph (1) of section 1712(a) of this title''
and inserting in lieu thereof ``section 1710(a)(1)
of this title, or for a disability described in
section 1710(a)(2)(C) of this title''; and
(ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking out
``section 1712'' and inserting in lieu thereof
``section 1710(a)(2)''.
(7) Section 1718(e) is amended by striking out ``section
1712(i)'' and inserting in lieu thereof ``section 1705''.
(8) Section 1720(f) is amended--
(A) in paragraph (1)(A)(ii), by striking out
``section 1712(a)(1)(B)'' and inserting in lieu thereof
``paragraph (1), (2), or (3) of section 1710(a)''; and
(B) by striking out paragraph (3).
(9) Section 1722 is amended--
(A) in subsection (a), by striking out ``section
1710(a)(1)(I)'' and inserting in lieu thereof ``section
1710(a)(2)(G)''; and
(B) in subsection (f)(3), by striking out ``or
1712(f)''.
(10) Section 1729(g)(3)(A) is amended by striking out
``under section 1710(f) of this title for hospital care or
nursing home care, under section 1712(f) of this title for
medical services,'' and inserting in lieu thereof ``under
subsection (f) or (g) of section 1710 of this title for hospital
care, medical services, or nursing home care''.
(e) Other Conforming and Technical Amendments.--
(1) Section 1525 is amended--
(A) in subsection (a), by striking out ``section
1712(h) of this title'' and all that follows through the
period at the end and inserting in lieu thereof
``section 1712(d) of this title.''; and
(B) in subsection (b), by striking out
``renumeration'' and inserting in lieu thereof
``remuneration''.
(2) Section 2104(b) is amended--
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(A) in the first sentence, by striking out ``section
1712(a)'' and inserting in lieu thereof ``section
1717(a)(2)''; and
(B) in the second sentence, by striking out
``section 1712(a)'' and inserting in lieu thereof
``section 1717(a)(2)''.
(3) Section 5317(c)(3) is amended by striking out ``sections
1710(a)(1)(I), 1710(a)(2), 1710(b), and 1712(a)(2)(B)'' and
inserting in lieu thereof ``subsections (a)(2)(G), (a)(3), and
(b) of section 1710''.
(4) Section 8110(a)(2) is amended by striking out ``section
1712'' and inserting in lieu thereof ``section 1710(a)''.
(5) Section 8111A(b)(2)(A) is amended by striking out
``subsection (f) of section 1712'' and inserting in lieu thereof
``subsection (a) of section 1710''.
SEC. 102. REVISION IN AUTHORITIES FOR PROVISION OF PRIORITY HEALTH CARE
FOR CERTAIN VETERANS EXPOSED TO SPECIFIED TOXIC SUBSTANCES.
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