1.Short title; table of
contents
(a)This Act may be cited
as the Women Veterans and Other Health
Care Improvements Act of 2012
.
(b)The table of contents for this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Facilitation of reproduction and infertility
research.
Sec. 3. Clarification that fertility counseling and treatment
are medical services which the Secretary may furnish to veterans like other
medical services.
Sec. 4. Reproductive treatment and care delivery for spouses
and surrogates of veterans.
Sec. 5. Requirement to improve Department of Veterans Affairs
women veterans call center.
Sec. 6. Modification of pilot program on counseling in retreat
settings for women veterans newly separated from service in the Armed
Forces.
Sec. 7. Pilot programs on assistance for child care for certain
veterans.
2.Facilitation of
reproduction and infertility research
(a)Subchapter II of chapter 73 of title 38, United States
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new section:
7330B.Facilitation
of reproduction and infertility research
(a)Facilitation of
research requiredThe Secretary shall facilitate research
conducted collaboratively by the Secretary of Defense and the Director of the
National Institutes of Health to improve the ability of the Department of
Veterans Affairs to meet the long-term reproductive health care needs of
veterans who have a service-connected genitourinary disability or a condition
that was incurred or aggravated in line of duty in the active military, naval,
or air service, such as spinal cord injury, that affects the veterans' ability
to reproduce.
(b)Dissemination of
informationThe Secretary shall ensure that information produced
by the research facilitated under this section that may be useful for other
activities of the Veterans Health Administration is disseminated throughout the
Veterans Health
Administration.
.
(b)The table of sections at the beginning of chapter 73 is
amended by inserting after the item relating to section 7330A the following new
item:
7330B. Facilitation of
reproduction and infertility
research.
.
(c)Not
later than three years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to Congress a report on the research
activities conducted by the Secretary under section 7330B of title 38, United
States Code, as added by subsection (a).
3.Clarification
that fertility counseling and treatment are medical services which the
Secretary may furnish to veterans like other medical servicesSection 1701(6) of such title is amended by
adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
(H)Fertility
counseling and treatment, including treatment using assisted reproductive
technology.
.
4.Reproductive
treatment and care delivery for spouses and surrogates of veterans
(a)Subchapter VIII of chapter 17 of title 38, United States
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new section:
1787.Reproductive
treatment and care for spouses and surrogates of veterans
(a)The Secretary shall
furnish fertility counseling and treatment, including through the use of
assisted reproductive technology, to a spouse or surrogate of a severely
wounded veteran who has an infertility condition incurred or aggravated in line
of duty in the active military, naval, or air service and who is enrolled in
the health care system established under section 1705(a) of this title if the
spouse and the veteran apply jointly for such counseling and treatment through
a process prescribed by the Secretary.
(b)Coordination of
care for other spouses and surrogatesIn the case of a spouse or surrogate of a
veteran not described in subsection (a) who is seeking fertility counseling and
treatment, the Secretary may coordinate fertility counseling and treatment for
such spouse or
surrogate.
.
(b)The table of sections at the beginning of chapter 17 of
such title is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 1786 the
following new section:
1787. Reproductive treatment
and care for spouses and surrogates of
veterans.
.
(c)Not
later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary
of Veterans Affairs shall prescribe regulations to carry out section 1787 of
title 38, United States Code, as added by paragraph (1).
5.Requirement to
improve Department of Veterans Affairs women veterans call centerThe Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall
enhance the capabilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs women veterans
call center—
(1)to respond to requests by women veterans
for assistance with accessing health care and benefits furnished under laws
administered by the Secretary; and
(2)for referral of such veterans to community
resources to obtain assistance with services not furnished by the
Department.
6.Modification of
pilot program on counseling in retreat settings for women veterans newly
separated from service in the Armed Forces
(a)Increase in
number of locationsSubsection (c) of section 203 of the
Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010 (Public Law
111–163; 38 U.S.C. 1712A note) is amended by striking three
locations
and inserting 14 locations
.
(b)Subsection (d) of
such section is amended by striking 2-year
and inserting
four-year
.
7.Pilot programs on
assistance for child care for certain veterans
(a)Modification of
duration of pilot program on assistance for child care for certain veterans
receiving health careSubsection (e) of section 205 of the
Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010 (Public Law
111–163; 38 U.S.C. 1710 note) is amended to read as follows:
(e)A
child care center that is established as part of the pilot program may operate
until the date that is two years after the date on which the pilot program is
established in the third Veterans Integrated Service Network required by
subsection (d).
.
(b)Requirement for
pilot program on assistance for child care for certain veterans receiving
readjustment counseling and related mental health services
(1)The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall carry out a
pilot program to assess the feasibility and advisability of providing, subject
to paragraph (2), assistance to qualified veterans described in paragraph (3)
to obtain child care so that such veterans can receive readjustment counseling
and related mental health services.
(2)Limitation on
period of paymentsAssistance may only be provided to a qualified
veteran under the pilot program required by paragraph (1) for receipt of child
care during the period that the qualified veteran receives readjustment
counseling and related health care services at a Vet Center.
(3)For purposes of this subsection, a qualified veteran is
a veteran who is—
(A)the primary
caretaker of a child or children; and
(B)(i)receiving from the
Department regular readjustment counseling and related mental health services;
or
(ii)in need of readjustment counseling
and related mental health services from the Department, and but for lack of
child care services, would receive such counseling and services from the
Department.
(4)The
Secretary shall carry out the pilot program under this subsection in no fewer
than three Readjustment Counseling Service Regions selected by the Secretary
for purposes of the pilot program.
(5)The
pilot program under this subsection shall be carried out until the end of the
two-year period beginning on the day on which the Secretary begins carrying out
the pilot program at the last Readjustment Counseling Service Region selected
under paragraph (4) at which the Secretary begins carrying out the pilot
program.
(6)Forms of child
care assistance
(A)Child care assistance under this subsection may include
the following:
(i)Stipends for the
payment of child care offered by licensed child care centers (either directly
or through a voucher program) which shall be, to the extent practicable,
modeled after the Department of Veterans Affairs Child Care Subsidy Program
established pursuant to section 630 of the Treasury and General Government
Appropriations Act, 2002 (Public Law 107–67; 115 Stat. 552).
(ii)Payments to
private child care agencies.
(iii)Collaboration
with facilities or programs of other Federal departments or agencies.
(iv)Such other forms
of assistance as the Secretary considers appropriate.
(B)In the case that child care assistance under this
subsection is provided as a stipend under subparagraph (A)(i), such stipend
shall cover the full cost of such child care.
(7)Not
later than 180 days after the completion of the pilot program required by
paragraph (1), the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on the pilot
program. The report shall include the findings and conclusions of the Secretary
as a result of the pilot program, and shall include such recommendations for
the continuation or expansion of the pilot program as the Secretary considers
appropriate.
(8)Authorization of
appropriationsThere is authorized to be appropriated to the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out the pilot program required by
paragraph (1) $1,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2014 and 2015.
(9)In this section, the term Vet Center means a
center for readjustment counseling and related mental health services for
veterans under section 1712A of title 38, United States Code.