[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1016 Reported in House (RH)]
Union Calendar No. 87
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1016
[Report No. 111-171]
To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide advance
appropriations authority for certain medical care accounts of the
Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 12, 2009
Mr. Filner (for himself, Mr. Michaud, Ms. Herseth Sandlin, Mr.
Mitchell, Mr. Hall of New York, Mr. McNerney, Mr. Walz, Mr. Hare, Mrs.
Tauscher, Mr. Hodes, and Mr. Sestak) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs
June 19, 2009
Additional sponsors: Mr. Teague, Mrs. Kirkpatrick of Arizona, Mr.
Jones, Mr. Loebsack, Mr. Buchanan, Mr. Adler of New Jersey, Ms.
Jackson-Lee of Texas, Mr. Kagen, Mr. Boswell, Mrs. Napolitano, Mr.
Platts, Mr. Young of Alaska, Mr. Hinchey, Mr. DeFazio, Mr. Terry, Mr.
Holt, Ms. Kosmas, Mr. Ellsworth, Mr. Gordon of Tennessee, Mr. Carnahan,
Mr. Schrader, Mr. Frank of Massachusetts, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Brady of
Pennsylvania, Mr. Schauer, Mr. Welch, Mr. Ellison, Mr. Wexler, Mrs.
Dahlkemper, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Courtney, Mr. Klein of Florida, Ms.
Berkley, Mr. Jackson of Illinois, Mr. Bishop of New York, Mr. Boren,
Mr. LoBiondo, Mr. Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania, Mr. Smith of Washington,
Mr. Braley of Iowa, Mr. Al Green of Texas, Mr. Moran of Kansas, Ms.
Pingree of Maine, Mr. Garrett of New Jersey, Mr. Higgins, Ms. Watson,
Mr. Space, Mr. Gerlach, Mr. Altmire, Ms. Titus, Mr. Hastings of
Florida, Mr. Heinrich, Mr. Nye, Mr. Rodriguez, Mr. Lujan, Mr. Tiahrt,
Mr. Connolly of Virginia, Mr. Peters, Mr. Doyle, Mr. Boccieri, Mr.
Gutierrez, Mr. Murphy of Connecticut, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. McGovern, Mrs.
Davis of California, Mr. Blumenauer, Ms. Sutton, Mr. Ross, Ms.
Kilpatrick of Michigan, Mr. Boucher, Mr. Kissell, Mr. Sablan, Ms.
Markey of Colorado, Mr. Maffei, Mr. Oberstar, Mr. Patrick J. Murphy of
Pennsylvania, Mr. Pastor of Arizona, Mr. Donnelly of Indiana, Mr.
Larsen of Washington, Mr. King of New York, Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson
of Texas, Mr. Bilbray, Mr. McIntyre, Mr. Tonko, Mr. McMahon, Mr.
Cleaver, Mr. Costello, Ms. Schwartz, Mr. Polis of Colorado, Mrs.
Halvorson, Mr. LaTourette, Ms. Jenkins, Mr. Lee of New York, Mrs.
Blackburn, Mr. Meek of Florida, Mr. Gonzalez, Mr. Cummings, Mr. Sires,
Mr. Gallegly, Mr. Delahunt, Mr. Carney, Mr. Kline of Minnesota, Mr.
Peterson, Mr. Griffith, Ms. Tsongas, Mr. Kildee, Mr. Poe of Texas, Mr.
Snyder, Mr. Perriello, Ms. Corrine Brown of Florida, Ms. Woolsey, Mr.
Etheridge, Mr. Israel, Mrs. McCarthy of New York, and Mr. Massa
June 19, 2009
Reported with amendments, 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]
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on
February 12, 2009]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide advance
appropriations authority for certain medical care accounts of the
Department of Veterans Affairs, 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. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Veterans Health Care Budget Reform
and Transparency Act of 2009''.
SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that the provision of health care
services to veterans could be more effectively and efficiently planned
and managed if funding was provided for the management and provision of
such services in the form of advance appropriations.
SEC. 3. PRESIDENTS' BUDGET SUBMISSIONS.
Section 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code, is amended by
adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(36) information on estimates of appropriations for the
fiscal year following the fiscal year for which the budget is
submitted for the following accounts of the Department of
Veterans Affairs:
``(A) Medical Services.
``(B) Medical Support and Compliance.
``(C) Medical Facilities.
``(D) Information Technology Systems.
``(E) Medical and Prosthetic Research.''.
SEC. 4. ADVANCE APPROPRIATIONS FOR CERTAIN ACCOUNTS OF THE DEPARTMENT
OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.
(a) Advance Appropriations for Certain Accounts.--
(1) In general.--Chapter 1 of title 38, United States Code,
is amended by inserting after section 116 the following new
section:
``Sec. 117. Advance appropriations for certain accounts
``(a) In General.--For each fiscal year, beginning with fiscal year
2011, discretionary new budget authority provided in an appropriations
Act for the appropriations accounts of the Department specified in
subsection (c) shall--
``(1) be made available for that fiscal year; and
``(2) include, for each such appropriations account,
advance discretionary new budget authority that first becomes
available for the first fiscal year after the budget year.
``(b) Estimates Required.--The Secretary shall include in documents
submitted to Congress in support of the President's budget submitted
pursuant to section 1105 of title 31, United States Code, detailed
estimates of the funds necessary for the accounts of the Department
specified in subsection (c) for the fiscal year following the fiscal
year for which the budget is submitted.
``(c) Accounts Specified.--The accounts specified in this
subsection are the following accounts of the Department of Veterans
Affairs:
``(1) Medical Services.
``(2) Medical Support and Compliance.
``(3) Medical Facilities.
``(4) Information Technology Systems.
``(5) Medical and Prosthetic Research.
``(d) Annual Report.--Not later than July 31 of each year, the
Secretary shall submit to Congress an annual report on the sufficiency
of the Department's resources for the next fiscal year beginning after
the date of the submittal of the report for the provision of medical
care. Such report shall also include estimates of the workload and
demand data for that fiscal year.''.
(2) Clerical amendment.--The table of sections at the
beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting after the
item relating to section 116 the following new item:
``117. Advance appropriations for certain accounts.''.
SEC. 5. COMPTROLLER GENERAL STUDY ON ADEQUACY AND ACCURACY OF BASELINE
MODEL PROJECTIONS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
FOR HEALTH CARE EXPENDITURES.
(a) Study of Adequacy and Accuracy of Base Line Model
Projections.--The Comptroller General shall conduct a study of the
adequacy and accuracy of the budget projections made by the Enrollee
Health Care Projection Model (in this section referred to as the
``Model''), its equivalent, or other methodologies utilized for the
purpose of estimating and projecting health care expenditures of the
Department of Veterans Affairs with respect to the fiscal year involved
and the subsequent four fiscal years.
(b) Reports.--
(1) In general.--Not later than the date of each year in
2011, 2012, and 2013, on which the President submits the budget
request for the next fiscal year under section 1105 of title
31, United States Code, the Comptroller General shall submit to
the appropriate committees of Congress and to the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs a report.
(2) Elements.--Each report under this paragraph shall
include, for the fiscal year concerning the year for which the
budget is submitted, the following:
(A) A statement whether the amount requested in the
budget of the President for expenditures of the
Department for health care in such fiscal year is
consistent with anticipated expenditures of the
Department for health care in such fiscal year as
determined utilizing the Model.
(B) The basis for such statement.
(C) Such additional information as the Comptroller
General determines appropriate.
(3) Availability to the public.--Each report submitted
under this subsection shall be made available to the public by
the Comptroller General.
(4) Appropriate committees of congress defined.--In this
subsection, the term ``appropriate committees of Congress''
means--
(A) the Committees on Veterans' Affairs,
Appropriations, and the Budget of the Senate; and
(B) the Committees on Veterans' Affairs,
Appropriations, and the Budget of the House of
Representatives.
SEC. 6. REPORT TO CONGRESS.
Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act,
the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, shall submit to the Committees on
Veterans' Affairs, Appropriations, and the Budget of the Senate and
House of Representatives a report on the requirements of this Act and
the amendments made by this Act. Such report shall include--
(1) the Secretary's plans for improving the capability of
the Department of Veterans Affairs to better and more
accurately estimate future health care costs and demands; and
(2) a description of impediments, statutory or otherwise,
to providing future year estimates and advance appropriations
for the Medical Services, Medical Support and Compliance,
Medical Facilities, Information Technology Systems, and Medical
and Prosthetic Research accounts of the Department.
Amend the title so as to read: ``A bill to amend title 38,
United States Code, to provide advance appropriations authority
for certain accounts of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and
for other purposes.''.
Union Calendar No. 87
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1016
[Report No. 111-171]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide advance
appropriations authority for certain medical care accounts of the
Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
June 19, 2009
Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee of the Whole House
on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed