[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1598 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1598

 To amend section 1706 of title 38, United States Code, to enhance the 
 management of the provision by the Department of Veterans Affairs of 
specialized treatment and rehabilitation for disabled veterans, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 31, 2001

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend section 1706 of title 38, United States Code, to enhance the 
 management of the provision by the Department of Veterans Affairs of 
specialized treatment and rehabilitation for disabled 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. ENHANCEMENT OF MANAGEMENT OF PROVISION OF SPECIALIZED 
              TREATMENT AND REHABILITATION FOR DISABLED VETERANS.

    (a) Disabled Veterans.--Paragraph (1) of section 1706(b) of title 
38, United States Code, is amended by striking ``(including veterans 
with spinal cord dysfunction, blindness, amputations, and mental 
illness)'' and inserting ``(including veterans with spinal cord 
dysfunction, blindness, traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress 
disorder, substance abuse disorder, and serious chronic mental illness, 
and veterans in need of prosthetics and sensory aids)''.
    (b) Organization of Capacity for Treatment and Rehabilitation.--
Paragraph (1) of that section is further amended--
            (1) by inserting after ``ensure that the Department'' the 
        following: ``, and each geographic service area and medical 
        center of the Veterans Health Administration,''; and
            (2) in subparagraph (B)--
                    (A) by inserting after ``capacity of the 
                Department'' the following: ``, including each such 
                service area and medical center,''; and
                    (B) by striking ``nationwide,'' and inserting 
                ``nationwide and in each such service area,''.
    (c) Reports on Maintenance of Capacity.--Paragraph (2) of that 
section is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``(A)'' after ``(2)'';
            (2) in subparagraph (A), as so designated--
                    (A) by striking ``April 1, 1999, April 1, 2000, and 
                April 1, 2001'' and inserting ``April 1 each year''; 
                and
                    (B) by inserting before the period at the end the 
                following: ``during the preceding year''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new subparagraphs:
    ``(B) In order to ensure the accuracy of the reports under this 
paragraph, the Secretary shall--
            ``(i) utilize uniform standards nationwide in the 
        documentation of workload and cost data, adjusted for 
        inflation; and
            ``(ii) carry out a quarterly assessment, through the 
        directors of the geographic service areas of the Veterans 
        Health Administration, of the capacity of such service areas, 
        and of each medical center in such service areas, to provide 
        for the specialized treatment and rehabilitative needs of 
        disabled veterans within distinct programs or facilities of the 
        Department.
    ``(C) The Inspector General of the Department shall, on an annual 
basis, conduct an audit of each geographic service area of the Veterans 
Health Administration in order to ensure that the Secretary complied 
with paragraph (1) in such service area during the preceding year.
    ``(D) The Inspector General shall also review each report of the 
Secretary under subparagraph (A) in order to determine the accuracy of 
such report.
    ``(E) Not later than June 1 each year, the Inspector General shall 
submit to the committees referred to in subparagraph (A) a report on 
the results of the audit conducted by the Inspector General under 
subparagraph (C), and the review conducted by the Inspector General 
under subparagraph (D), in such year. Each report shall include the 
results of such audit and review and any other findings that the 
Inspector General considers appropriate.''.
    (d) Job Performance Standards.--(1) Paragraph (3) of that section 
is amended--
            (A) in subparagraph (B), by inserting before the period at 
        the end the following: ``, including positions of the directors 
        of the medical centers, and positions of the directors of the 
        geographic service areas, of the Veterans Health 
        Administration''; and
            (B) by adding at the end the following new subparagraphs:
    ``(D) The Under Secretary for Health shall, on an annual basis, 
conduct a job performance evaluation of each employee in a position 
described in subparagraph (B) with respect to the job performance of 
such employee in carrying out the requirements of paragraph (1). Each 
job performance evaluation shall cover the fiscal year ending in the 
year preceding such job performance evaluation, and shall be conducted 
using the standards for job performance prescribed under subparagraph 
(A).
    ``(E) Not later than 90 days after completing all job performance 
evaluations required for a fiscal year under subparagraph (D), the 
Secretary shall submit to the committees referred to in paragraph 
(2)(A) a report on the job performance evaluations. The report for a 
fiscal year shall include the following:
            ``(i) The job performance evaluation of each employee 
        subject to evaluation during the fiscal year, stated utilizing 
        each standard for job performance under subparagraph (A) 
        applicable to such employee.
            ``(ii) An overall evaluation of the job performance of each 
        such employee.''.
    (2) The Under Secretary for Health of the Department of Veterans 
Affairs shall prescribe the standards of job performance required by 
section 1706(b)(3) of title 38, United States Code, as amended by 
paragraph (1)(A), not later than January 30, 2002.
    (3) Not later than April 1, 2002, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
shall submit to the Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and 
the House of Representatives a report setting forth the standards of 
job performance prescribed under section 1706(b)(3) of title 38, United 
States Code, as amended by paragraph (1)(A).
    (e) Determination of Scope of Capacity.--Section 1706(b) of that 
title is further amended by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph:
    ``(4)(A) For purposes of this subsection, the capacity of the 
Department, of each geographic service area of the Veterans Health 
Administration, and of each medical center of the Administration to 
provide for the specialized treatment and rehabilitative needs of 
disabled veterans (including veterans described in paragraph (1)) 
within distinct programs or facilities of the Department shall be 
determined by the Secretary utilizing a formula, to be prescribed by 
the Secretary, that addresses the following:
            ``(i) The number, and job responsibility, of the full-time 
        equivalent employees providing specialized treatment or 
        rehabilitative services for such veterans in such programs or 
        facilities.
            ``(ii) The number of staffed beds dedicated to specialized 
        treatment or rehabilitative services for such veterans in such 
        programs or facilities.
            ``(iii) The number of veterans served by each such program 
        or facility.
            ``(iv) The number of units of service provided veterans by 
        each such program or facility, including the number of 
        inpatient and residential days of care and the number of 
        outpatient visits.
            ``(v) The amounts expended in providing specialized 
        treatment or rehabilitative services for such veterans through 
        dedicated programs utilizing specialized staff.
    ``(B) The formula under subparagraph (A) may not use patient 
outcome data to measure the capacity of the Department to provide for 
the specialized treatment and rehabilitative needs of disabled 
veterans.''.
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