[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9426 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 9426

   To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a pilot 
  program under which the Secretary may fill vacant shifts at medical 
 facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs with non-Department 
                         health care providers.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            August 30, 2024

   Mr. Bost introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a pilot 
  program under which the Secretary may fill vacant shifts at medical 
 facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs with non-Department 
                         health care providers.

    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 ``Safeguarding VA's Healthcare 
Workforce Act''.

SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM TO FILL VACANT SHIFTS AT MEDICAL FACILITIES OF 
              THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS WITH NON-DEPARTMENT 
              HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS.

    (a) Establishment.--Not later than one year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall carry out a 
pilot program under which the Secretary may fill a vacant shift at a 
medical facility of the Department of Veterans Affairs with a non-
Department health care provider.
    (b) Agreements; Payments.--To carry out the pilot program, the 
Secretary shall seek to enter into at least one agreement with an 
entity that employs or contracts with health care providers. Pursuant 
to such an agreement, the Secretary shall pay the entity a fixed rate 
for each shift filled by such entity under the pilot program.
    (c) Limitation.--The Secretary may not, under the pilot program, 
fill a vacant shift at a medical facility of the Department with a non-
Department health care provider unless the number of vacant shifts at 
such facility reaches a minimum number or percentage prescribed by the 
Secretary.
    (d) Locations.--The Secretary shall carry out the pilot program in 
medical facilities of not more than two Veterans Integrated Services 
Networks. In selecting a facility for the pilot program, the Secretary 
shall give preference to a facility--
            (1) located in a rural area; or
            (2) that historically has a high rate of vacant shifts.
    (e) Privacy.--To protect the privacy of a veteran who receives 
hospital care or medical services under the pilot program, the 
Secretary shall restrict the access, to medical records of the 
Department, of a provider who fills a vacant shift under the pilot 
program, to only such records of a veteran to whom such provider 
provides hospital care or medical services.
    (f) Reports.--
            (1) Requirement.--The Secretary shall submit to the 
        Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and House of 
        Representatives a report on the pilot program not later than--
                    (A) 21 months after the date on which the Secretary 
                begins to carry out the pilot program; and
                    (B) 90 days after the date on which the pilot 
                program terminates.
            (2) Elements.--Each such report shall include the following 
        elements:
                    (A) How frequently the Secretary filled a vacant 
                shift under the pilot program.
                    (B) The medical specialties relating to vacant 
                shifts that were most frequently filled under the pilot 
                program.
                    (C) The number of veterans who received hospital 
                care or medical services under the pilot program.
    (g) Termination.--The pilot program shall terminate three years 
after the date on which the Secretary begins to carry out the pilot 
program.
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