H.R. 6595

[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>