[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 167 (Tuesday, November 10, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Page S7932]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 2800. Mr. THUNE 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 end of title II, add the following:
       Sec. 2__. (a)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law 
     and except as provided in paragraph (3), the Secretary of 
     Veterans Affairs and the Director of the Indian Health 
     Service shall enter into a memorandum of understanding, in 
     consultation with Indian tribes that are impacted by the 
     memorandum of understanding, on a national or regional basis, 
     that authorizes the Indian Health Service to pay to the 
     Department of Veterans Affairs copayments owed to the 
     Department by veterans who are beneficiaries of the Indian 
     Health Service for services rendered by the Department, 
     including services rendered under a contract with a non-
     Department health care provider, to such veterans pursuant to 
     a referral from a facility of the Indian Health Service under 
     the purchased and referred care program of the Indian Health 
     Service.
       (2) In entering into a memorandum of understanding under 
     paragraph (1), the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the 
     Director of the Indian Health Service shall take into account 
     any findings from the report required under subsection (b).
       (3) The Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Director of 
     the Indian Health Service are not required to enter into a 
     memorandum of understanding under paragraph (1) if the 
     Secretary and the Director jointly certify to the appropriate 
     committees of Congress that such a memorandum of 
     understanding would--
       (A)(i) decrease the quality of health care provided to 
     veterans who are beneficiaries of the Indian Health Service; 
     and
       (ii) impede the access of such veterans to health care; or
       (B) substantially decrease the quality of or access to 
     health care by individuals receiving health care from the 
     Department of Veterans Affairs or beneficiaries of the Indian 
     Health Service.
       (b) Not later than 45 days after the date of the enactment 
     of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit 
     to Congress a report that contains--
       (1) the number, disaggregated by State, of veterans who are 
     beneficiaries of the Indian Health Service and have received 
     health care at a medical facility of the Department of 
     Veterans Affairs;
       (2) the number, disaggregated by State and calendar year, 
     of veterans who are beneficiaries of the Indian Health 
     Service and were referred to a medical facility of the 
     Department from a facility of the Indian Health Service 
     during the period beginning on January 1, 2010, and ending on 
     December 31, 2015; and
       (3) an update on efforts of the Department to streamline 
     health care for veterans who are beneficiaries of the Indian 
     Health Service and have received health care at a medical 
     facility of the Department and at a facility of the Indian 
     Health Service, including--
       (A) any changes to the provision of health care required 
     under the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (25 U.S.C. 1601 
     et seq.); and
       (B) any barriers to efficiently streamlining the provision 
     of health care to veterans who are beneficiaries of the 
     Indian Health Service.
       (c) In this section--
       (1) the term ``appropriate committees of Congress'' means--
       (A) the Committee on Veterans' Affairs and the Committee on 
     Indian Affairs of the Senate; and
       (B) the Committee on Veterans' Affairs and the Committee on 
     Natural Resources of the House of Representatives;
       (2) the term ``beneficiaries of the Indian Health Service'' 
     means individuals eligible for assistance from the Indian 
     Health Service; and
       (3) the term ``Indian tribe'' has the meaning given that 
     term in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and 
     Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b).
                                 ______