[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2473 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2473

  To amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of 
 Veterans Affairs to furnish organ transplant care to veterans at non-
   Department of Veterans Affairs facilities, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 28, 2018

  Mr. Cassidy introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
             referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of 
 Veterans Affairs to furnish organ transplant care to veterans at non-
   Department of Veterans Affairs facilities, 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 Increased Choice for 
Transplanted Organs and Recovery Act of 2018'' or the ``VICTOR Act of 
2018''.

SEC. 2. ORGAN TRANSPLANT CARE FOR VETERANS AT NON-DEPARTMENT OF 
              VETERANS AFFAIRS FACILITIES.

    (a) Organ Transplant Care.--
            (1) In general.--Subchapter I of chapter 17 of title 38, 
        United States Code, is amended by inserting after section 1703 
        the following new section:
``Sec. 1703A. Organ transplant care at non-Department facilities
    ``(a) In General.--The Secretary shall furnish organ transplant 
care to eligible veterans, at the election of the eligible veteran, at 
non-Department facilities that are in compliance with regulations 
prescribed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services with respect 
to transplant centers.
    ``(b) Eligible Veterans.--A veteran is an eligible veteran for 
purposes of this section if the veteran--
            ``(1) is enrolled in the system of annual patient 
        enrollment established and operated under section 1705(a) of 
        this title; and
            ``(2) received care under this chapter within the 24-month 
        period preceding the furnishing of organ transplant care under 
        this section.
    ``(c) Provider Agreements.--(1) The Secretary shall enter into 
provider agreements with non-Department facilities to carry out this 
section in each Veterans Integrated Service Network region of the 
Department.
    ``(2) Under provider agreements entered into under paragraph (1), 
the Secretary shall pay non-Department facilities for care furnished 
under this section an amount equal to the amount that would otherwise 
be paid for such care under title XVIII of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 1395 et seq.).
    ``(3) A provider agreement entered into under paragraph (1) shall 
include payment of procurement fees, as well as payment for the cost of 
providing the organ transplant care.
    ``(d) Payment for Travel and Lodging.--Notwithstanding any other 
provision of law, the Secretary shall not pay for travel and lodging 
costs for a veteran seeking organ transplant care under this section 
outside the region of the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network 
(as established under section 372 of the National Organ Transplantation 
Act (42 U.S.C. 274)) in which the veteran resides unless the Secretary 
authorizes such care outside such region.
    ``(e) Organ Transplant Care Defined.--In this section, the term 
`organ transplant' includes bone marrow transplants.''.
            (2) Clerical amendment.--The table of sections at the 
        beginning of chapter 17 of such title is amended by inserting 
        after the item relating to section 1703 the following new item:

``1703A. Organ transplant care at non-Department facilities.''.
    (b) Initial Provider Agreements.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
shall--
            (1) not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment 
        of this Act, seek to enter into provider agreements under 
        section 1703A(c) of title 38, United States Code, as added by 
        subsection (a); and
            (2) not later than January 1, 2019, finalize such provider 
        agreements.
    (c) Reports.--
            (1) Initial report.--Not later than one year after the date 
        of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
        shall submit to Congress a report on--
                    (A) the status of provider agreements entered into 
                under section 1703A(c) of title 38, United States Code, 
                as added by subsection (a); and
                    (B) the number of non-Department of Veterans 
                Affairs facilities with which the Secretary has entered 
                into a provider agreement under such section within 
                each Veterans Integrated Service Network region of the 
                Department.
            (2) Report on usage of facilities.--Not later than two 
        years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
        Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on, for the one-
        year period preceding the report--
                    (A) the number of veterans that have sought organ 
                transplant care at transplant facilities under section 
                1703A of title 38, United States Code, as added by 
                subsection (a); and
                    (B) the number of veterans that have sought organ 
                transplant care at a facility of the Department.
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