[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2192 Reported in House (RH)]






                                                 Union Calendar No. 492
110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 2192

                          [Report No. 110-773]

To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish an Ombudsman within 
                  the Department of Veterans Affairs.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 7, 2007

  Mr. Hodes introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Veterans' Affairs

                             July 24, 2008

Additional sponsors: Ms. Moore of Wisconsin, Mr. Crowley, Mr. Jones of 
North Carolina, Mr. Matheson, Ms. Kaptur, Ms. DeGette, Ms. Schakowsky, 
 Mr. Shuler, Mr. Doyle, Mr. Hastings of Florida, Mr. Abercrombie, Mr. 
 Butterfield, Mr. Larson of Connecticut, Mr. Boswell, Mr. Andrews, Mr. 
Cohen, Mr. Yarmuth, Mr. Allen, Mr. Marshall, Mr. Gonzalez, Mr. Conaway, 
Mr. Scott of Virginia, Mr. Lynch, Mr. Moore of Kansas, Mrs. McCarthy of 
 New York, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mr. Gilchrest, Mr. McDermott, Mr. Waxman, 
   Mr. Braley of Iowa, Mr. Murphy of Connecticut, Mr. Cummings, Mr. 
 Filner, Mr. Ellison, Mr. Bishop of New York, Ms. Woolsey, Ms. Hirono, 
 Mr. McIntyre, Mr. Cuellar, Mr. Hinojosa, Mr. Carson, Mr. Michaud, Mr. 
               Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania, and Mr. Buyer

                             July 24, 2008

  Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
       House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
 [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed 
                               in italic]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish an Ombudsman within 
                  the Department of Veterans Affairs.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

<DELETED>SECTION 1. ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE OF THE OMBUDSMAN IN 
              DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    (a) Establishment.--Chapter 3 of title 38, United States 
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new 
section:</DELETED>
<DELETED>``Sec. 321. Office of the Ombudsman</DELETED>
<DELETED>    ``(a) In General.--There is established in the Department 
an Office of the Ombudsman (in this section referred to as the Office). 
The Secretary shall designate an Ombudsman to carry out the duties of 
the Office.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    ``(b) Duties.--The Office shall act as a liaison for 
veterans and their family members with respect to the receipt of health 
care and benefits administered by the Department.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    ``(c) Availability of Services.--The Secretary shall 
ensure that the services of the Office are available to all veterans 
and their family members.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    ``(d) Confidentiality.--Any information provided by 
veterans or their family members to the Office may be disclosed only to 
the extent necessary to carry out the duties of the Office.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    ``(e) Outreach.--The Secretary shall make available to 
each veteran, and to the family members of all veterans, information on 
contacting and utilizing the services of the Office.''.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the 
beginning of such chapter is amended by adding at the end the following 
new item:</DELETED>

<DELETED>``321. Office of the Ombudsman.''.

</DELETED>SECTION 1. ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE OF THE OMBUDSMAN IN 
              VETERANS HEALTH ADMINISTRATION.

    (a) Office of the Ombudsman.--
            (1) Establishment.--Subchapter I of chapter 73 of title 38, 
        United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 
        following new section:
``Sec. 7309. Office of the Ombudsman
    ``(a) Office; Directors.--There is established in the Veterans 
Health Administration an Office of the Ombudsman (in this section 
referred to as the `Office'). The Office shall be headed by a Director 
appointed by the Secretary. The Director shall report directly to the 
Secretary.
    ``(b) Duties of Office.--The Office shall--
            ``(1) be responsible for ensuring--
                    ``(A) all matters referred to the Office are 
                handled in a confidential manner; and
                    ``(B) any action taken by the Administration with 
                respect to such a matter does not negatively affect the 
                ability of any veteran to receive health care or 
                benefits under a law administered by the Secretary; and
            ``(2) serve as a last resort for complaints and issues that 
        cannot be resolved at a local or regional level in the 
        Administration.
    ``(c) Duties of Director.--The Director shall--
            ``(1) be responsible for overseeing the efforts of patient 
        advocates in the Administration;
            ``(2) develop and make available to local offices of the 
        Administration tools for monitoring the work of such patient 
        advocates and standards to evaluate the work of such patient 
        advocates;
            ``(3) determine trends, in terms of numbers, topics, and 
        facility locations, in patient issues and complaints;
            ``(4) participate in such national quality conferences of 
        the Administration as the Under Secretary for Health may 
        designate;
            ``(5) help coordinate assistance for veterans who need 
        assistance from the Administration in more than one region of 
        the Administration; and
            ``(6) maintain a public Web site with links to contact 
        information for each patient advocate at each medical center of 
        the Department.
    ``(d) Regional Administrators.--The Director shall appoint three 
regional administrators to support facilities of the Administration and 
veterans integrated service networks in their patient advocacy work, to 
identify best practices for patient advocacy work and inform such 
facilities and networks of such best practices, and to receive and 
refer to the board established under subsection (e) appeals from 
veterans in their respective regions who are not satisfied with the 
efforts of their local medical center of the Department and veteran 
integrated service network.
    ``(e) Board.--The Director shall establish a board composed of the 
Director and the three regional administrators appointed under 
subsection (d) to hear appeals referred to the board by a regional 
administrator under subsection (d) and issue a letter explaining the 
board's decision regarding such appeal and outlining possible steps for 
resolving issues raised in such appeal.
    ``(f) Limitation on Statutory Construction.--Nothing in this 
section shall be construed as affecting the authority and 
responsibility of coordinators of patient advocates for severely 
injured veterans of Operation of Enduring Freedom and severely injured 
veterans of Operation Iraqi Freedom.''.
            (2) Clerical amendment.--The table of sections at the 
        beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting after the 
        item relating to section 7308 the following new item:

``7309. Office of the Ombudsman.''.
    (b) Deadline for Designation of Ombudsman.--Not later than 180 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs shall designate an individual to serve as the Ombudsman of the 
Veterans Health Administration under section 7309 of title 38, United 
States Code, as added by subsection (a).
                                                 Union Calendar No. 492

110th CONGRESS

  2d Session

                               H. R. 2192

                          [Report No. 110-773]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish an Ombudsman within 
                  the Department of Veterans Affairs.

_______________________________________________________________________

                             July 24, 2008

  Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
       House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed