1.This Act may be cited as the
Women Veterans and Other Health Care
Improvements Act of 2012
.
2.Clarification that fertility counseling and
treatment are medical services which the Secretary may furnish to veterans like
other medical servicesSection
1701(6) of title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the
following new subparagraph:
(H)Fertility counseling and treatment,
including treatment using assisted reproductive
technology.
.
3.Reproductive treatment and care 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:
1788.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, ill, or injured
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 system
of annual patient enrollment established under section 1705(a) of this title if
the spouse or surrogate 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.
(c)Nothing in this section shall be construed
to require the Secretary to find or certify a surrogate for a veteran or to
connect a surrogate with an injured
veteran.
.
(b)The table of sections at the beginning of
chapter 17 of such title is amended by inserting after the item relating to
section 1787 the following new item:
1788. Reproductive treatment
and care for spouses and surrogates of
veterans.
.
4.
(a)Subchapter VIII of chapter 17 of title 38,
United States Code, as amended by section 3, is further amended by adding at
the end the following new section:
1789.
(a)The Secretary may pay an amount, not to
exceed the limitation amount, to assist a covered veteran in the adoption of
one or more children.
(b)For purposes of this section, a covered
veteran is any severely wounded, ill, or injured veteran who—
(1)has an infertility condition incurred or
aggravated in line of duty in the active military, naval, or air service;
and
(2)is enrolled in the system of annual patient
enrollment established under section 1705(a) of this title.
(c)For purposes of this section, the
limitation amount is the amount equal to the lesser of—
(1)the cost the Department would incur if the
Secretary were to provide a covered veteran with one cycle of in vitro
fertilization, as determined by the Secretary; and
(2)the cost the Department would incur by
paying the expenses of three adoptions by covered veterans, as determined by
the
Secretary.
.
(b)The table of sections at the beginning of
chapter 17 of such title, as amended by section 3, is further amended by
inserting after the item relating to section 1788 the following new
item:
1789. Adoption
assistance.
.
5.Report on provision of fertility counseling
and treatment
(a)Each year, the Secretary of Veterans
Affairs shall submit to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and
the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives a report on
the fertility counseling and treatment furnished by the Department of Veterans
Affairs during the year preceding the submittal of the report.
(b)Each report submitted under subsection (a)
shall include, for the period covered by the report, the following:
(1)The number of veterans who received
fertility counseling or treatment furnished by the Department of Veterans
Affairs, disaggregated by era of military service of such veterans.
(2)The number of spouses and surrogates of
veterans who received fertility counseling or treatment furnished by the
Department.
(3)The cost to the Department of furnishing
fertility counseling and treatment, disaggregated by cost of services and
administration.
(4)The average cost to the Department per
recipient of such counseling and treatment.
(5)In cases in which the Department furnished
fertility treatment through the use of assisted reproductive technology, the
average number of cycles per person furnished.
(6)A description of how fertility counseling
and treatment services of the Department are coordinated with similar services
of the Department of Defense.
6.Regulations on furnishing of fertility
counseling and treatment and adoption assistance
(a)Not later than 540 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall prescribe
regulations—
(1)on the furnishing of fertility treatment to
veterans using assisted reproductive technology;
(2)to carry out section 1788 of title 38,
United States Code, as added by section 3; and
(3)to carry out section 1789 of such title, as
added by section 4.
(b)Notwithstanding any other provision of law,
during the period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act and ending
on the date on which the Secretary prescribes regulations under subsection (a),
the Secretary may not furnish—
(1)to any veteran, any fertility treatment
using assisted reproductive technology;
(2)any fertility counseling or treatment under
section 1788 of title 38, United States Code, as added by section 3; or
(3)any assistance under section 1789 of such
title, as added by section 4.
7.Coordination with Department of Defense on
furnishing of fertility counseling and treatmentThe Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall
coordinate the furnishing of fertility counseling and treatment by the
Department of Veterans Affairs with the furnishing of fertility counseling and
treatment by the Department of Defense.
8.Amounts for a fiscal year to carry out this
Act, section 7330B of title 38, United States Code, as added by section 2(a),
section 1787 of such title, as added by section 4(a), and the amendments made
by this Act shall be derived from amounts made available for an overseas
contingency operation in that fiscal year, if amounts were made available for
an overseas contingency operation in that fiscal year.
Passed the Senate
December 13, 2012.
Nancy Erickson,
Secretary