[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 166 (Monday, November 9, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Page S7864]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 2776. Mr. McCONNELL (for Ms. Murkowski) submitted an amendment 
intended to be proposed to amendment SA 2763 proposed by Mr. Kirk (for 
himself, Mr. Tester, and Ms. Mikulski) to the bill H.R. 2029, making 
appropriations for military construction, the Department of Veterans 
Affairs, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 
2016, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as 
follows:

       At the appropriate place, insert the following:
       Sec. ___.  Not later than February 1, 2016, 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 
     that supplements the report required under section 4002(c) of 
     the Surface Transportation and Veterans Health Care Choice 
     Improvement Act of 2015 (Public Law 114-41) and that contains 
     the following:
       (1) A description of the changes in access, if any, of 
     veterans in Alaska to purchased care from the Department of 
     Veterans Affairs that have resulted from implementation of 
     section 101 of the Veterans Access, Choice, and 
     Accountability Act of 2014 (Public Law 113-146), including 
     denials of care and interruptions in the course and 
     continuity of care.
       (2) An assessment of the performance of the Department in 
     providing health care under such section 101 in Alaska, 
     including--
       (A) the performance of call center service provided to 
     veterans;
       (B) the accuracy of call center information provided to 
     veterans and health care providers;
       (C) whether health care providers are agreeing to provide 
     health care under such section 101 in each of the major 
     communities in Alaska;
       (D) gaps in the availability of health care providers, 
     disaggregated by primary, specialty, subspecialty, and 
     behavioral health care;
       (E) impediments to the provision of health care under such 
     section 101; and
       (F) plans to mitigate those impediments.
       (3) An assessment of the status of health care provider 
     vacancies at the VA Alaska Healthcare System as of the date 
     of submittal of the report under this section, including 
     impediments to filling those vacancies and plans to mitigate 
     those impediments.
       (4) A description of the manner in which the Department 
     plans to serve the primary, specialty, and behavioral health 
     care needs of veterans in Alaska if the plan and 
     recommendations set forth in the report submitted under such 
     section 4002(c) are implemented, including a description of 
     specific strategies to be employed by the Department to 
     address gaps in the provision of health care to veterans and 
     the supply and demand of health care providers for veterans, 
     including the roles of tribal health providers and community 
     providers in addressing those gaps.
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