109 HR 5774 IH: To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to publish a U.S. House of Representatives 2006-07-12 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

I 109th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 5774 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES July 12, 2006 Ms. Harris (for herself and Mrs. Myrick) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to publish a strategic plan for long-term care, and for other purposes.

1.

Findings

Congress makes the following findings: (1)The number of aging veterans in the United States is increasing rapidly, with the number of veterans 85 years old and older expected to increase from approximately 870,000 to 1,300,000 during the next 10 years. (2)This group of veterans will have a significant need for nursing home care and will require a variety of noninstitutional long-term care services. (3)The Department of Veterans Affairs is struggling to meet its current obligations and is ill prepared to meet the long-term care needs of America’s aging veteran population. (4)Long-term care was not included in the Capital Asset Realignment for Enhanced Services (CARES) process because of a lack of forecasts and policies needed to project and plan to meet future demands for long-term care. (5)The Department of Veterans Affairs has failed to comply with the CARES Commission's 2003 recommendation to develop a long-term care strategic plan, which failure has had a detrimental effect on the welfare of veterans in need of such care.

2.

Strategic plan for long-term care

(a)

Publication

Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall publish a strategic plan for long-term care. (b)

Contents

The plan published under subsection (a) shall— (1)comply with the recommendations of the CARES Commission; (2)contain policies and strategies for— (A)the delivery of care in domiciliaries, residential treatment facilities, and nursing homes and for seriously mentally ill veterans; (B)maximizing the use of State veterans homes; (C)locating domiciliary units as close to patient populations as feasible; and (D)identifying freestanding nursing homes as an acceptable care model; (3)include data on— (A)the care of catastrophically disabled veterans; and (B)the geographic distribution of catastrophically disabled veterans; (4)address the spectrum of noninstitutional long-term care options, including— (A)respite care; (B)home-based primary care; (C)geriatric evaluation; (D)adult day health care; (E)skilled home health care; and (F)community residential care; and (5)provide— (A)cost and quality comparison analyses of all the different levels of care; (B)detailed information about geographic distribution of services and gaps in care; and (C)specific plans for working with Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance companies to expand care.