[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1656 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1656

  To modify the transition period between care and services provided 
under the Veterans Choice Program and care and services provided under 
      the Veterans Community Care Program, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                 May 23 (legislative day, May 22), 2019

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To modify the transition period between care and services provided 
under the Veterans Choice Program and care and services provided under 
      the Veterans Community Care Program, 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 Affairs Saving Network 
Appointments From Upheaval Act'' or the ``VA SNAFU Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Veterans Health Administration is the largest 
        integrated health care system in the United States, providing 
        care at approximately 1,250 health care facilities, including 
        172 medical centers and 1,069 outpatient sites of care of 
        varying complexity (referred to as outpatient clinics), and 
        serving approximately 9,000,000 veterans each year.
            (2) On June 6, 2018, the John S. McCain III, Daniel K. 
        Akaka, and Samuel R. Johnson VA Maintaining Internal Systems 
        and Strengthening Integrated Outside Networks Act of 2018 or 
        the VA MISSION Act of 2018 (Public Law 115-182) was signed into 
        law, establishing a new permanent Veterans Community Care 
        Program to replace the current Veterans Choice Program under 
        section 101 of the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability 
        Act of 2014 (Public Law 113-146; 38 U.S.C. 1701 note).
            (3) Section 7330C of title 38, United States Code, as added 
        by section 106 of the VA Mission Act of 2018, requires the 
        Department of Veterans Affairs to conduct market assessments of 
        community care.
            (4) Those assessments assess, among other factors, the 
        following:
                    (A) The demand for health care from the Department.
                    (B) The capacity of the Department to provide 
                health care.
                    (C) The capacity of providers under the Veterans 
                Community Care Program.
                    (D) The capacity of academic affiliates and other 
                Federal partners that provide health care to veterans.
            (5) Proposed access standards for the Veterans Community 
        Care Program, including a never-before-tested drive-time 
        standard, were released by the Department in January 2019 and 
        could impact half of all veterans enrolled in the patient 
        enrollment system of the Department.
            (6) The market assessments described in paragraph (3) have 
        not been completed by the Department, so veterans using the new 
        Veterans Community Care Program will not have a full picture of 
        whether care in the community is as good or better than care at 
        facilities of the Department.

SEC. 3. MODIFICATION OF TRANSITION FROM VETERANS CHOICE PROGRAM TO 
              VETERANS COMMUNITY CARE PROGRAM.

    (a) Effective Date of Veterans Community Care Program.--Subsection 
(b) of section 101 of the Caring for Our Veterans Act of 2018 (title I 
of Public Law 115-182) is amended to read as follows:
    ``(b) Effective Date.--Section 1703 of title 38, United States 
Code, as amended by subsection (a), shall take effect on the date on 
which the first market area assessment under section 7330C of title 38, 
United States Code, as added by section 106(a) of this Act, is 
completed.''.
    (b) Continuation of Veterans Choice Program.--Subsection (p) of 
section 101 of the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 
2014 (Public Law 113-146; 38 U.S.C. 1701 note) is amended to read as 
follows:
    ``(p) Authority To Furnish Care and Services.--
            ``(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), the 
        Secretary may not use the authority under this section to 
        furnish care and services after June 6, 2019.
            ``(2) Exception.--The Secretary may use the authority under 
        this section to furnish care and services after the date 
        specified in paragraph (1) to the extent necessary to provide 
        care and services to eligible veterans until the Secretary has 
        entered into contracts to provide care and services to such 
        eligible veterans under section 1703 of title 38, United States 
        Code, as in effect on the date specified in section 101(b) of 
        the Caring for Our Veterans Act of 2018 (title I of Public Law 
        115-182).''.
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