[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1779 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1779

 To amend title 38, United States Code, to eliminate copayments by the 
  Department of Veterans Affairs for medicines relating to preventive 
                health services, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 20, 2021

 Ms. Duckworth (for herself and Ms. Collins) 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 eliminate copayments by the 
  Department of Veterans Affairs for medicines relating to preventive 
                health services, 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 Preventive Health Coverage 
Fairness Act''.

SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENT TO PREVENTIVE HEALTH SERVICES FURNISHED BY 
              DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.

    (a) Elimination of Medication Copayments.--Section 1722A(a)(3) of 
title 38, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (C), by striking ``or'';
            (2) in subparagraph (D), by striking the period at the end 
        and inserting ``; or''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
            ``(E) to medication that is or is part of a preventive 
        health service.''.
    (b) Elimination of Hospital Care and Medical Services Copayments.--
Section 1710 of such title is amended--
            (1) in subsection (f)--
                    (A) by redesignating paragraph (5) as paragraph 
                (6); and
                    (B) by inserting after paragraph (4) the following 
                new paragraph (5):
    ``(5) A veteran shall not be liable to the United States under this 
subsection for any amounts for preventive health services.''; and
            (2) in subsection (g)(3), by adding at the end the 
        following new subparagraph:
            ``(C) Preventive health services.''.
    (c) Definition.--Section 1701(9) of such title is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (K), by striking ``; and'' and 
        inserting a semicolon;
            (2) by redesignating subparagraph (L) as subparagraph (O); 
        and
            (3) by inserting after subparagraph (K) the following new 
        subparagraphs:
                    ``(L) evidence-based items or services that have in 
                effect a rating of `A' or `B' in the current 
                recommendations of the United States Preventive 
                Services Task Force;
                    ``(M) immunizations that have in effect a 
                recommendation from the Advisory Committee on 
                Immunization Practices of the Centers for Disease 
                Control and Prevention with respect to the individual 
                involved;
                    ``(N) with respect to services for women, the 
                preventive care and screenings provided for in the 
                Health Resources and Services Administration Women's 
                Preventive Services Guidelines in effect as of the date 
                of the enactment of the Veterans Preventive Health 
                Coverage Fairness Act, or successor similar guidelines; 
                and''.
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