[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 181 (Tuesday, November 7, 2017)]
[House]
[Pages H8553-H8554]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
VETERANS TRANSPLANT COVERAGE ACT OF 2017
Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 1133) to amend title 38, United States Code, to authorize
the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide for an operation on a live
donor for purposes of conducting a transplant procedure for a veteran,
and for other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 1133
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 Transplant Coverage
Act of 2017''.
SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION TO PROVIDE FOR OPERATIONS ON LIVE
DONORS FOR PURPOSES OF CONDUCTING TRANSPLANT
PROCEDURES FOR VETERANS.
Section 101 of the Veterans Access, Choice, and
Accountability Act of 2014 (Public Law 113-146; 38 U.S.C.
1701 note) is amended by adding after subsection (t) the
following new subsection:
``(u) Transplant Procedures With Live Donors and Related
Services.--
``(1) In general.--Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3), in a
case in which a veteran is eligible for a transplant
procedure from the Department, the Secretary may provide for
an operation on a live donor to carry out such procedure for
such veteran, notwithstanding that the live donor may not be
eligible for health care from the Department.
``(2) Other services.--Subject to the availability of
appropriations for such purpose, the Secretary shall furnish
to a live donor any care or services before and after
conducting the transplant procedure under paragraph (1) that
may be required in connection with such procedure.
``(3) Use of non-department facilities.--In carrying out
this subsection, the Secretary may provide for the operation
described in paragraph (1) on a live donor and furnish to the
live donor the care and services described in paragraph (2)
at a non-Department facility pursuant to an agreement entered
into by the Secretary under this section. The live donor
shall be deemed to be an individual eligible for hospital
care and medical services at a non-Department facility
pursuant to such an agreement solely for the purposes of
receiving such operation, care, and services at the non-
Department facility.''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Florida (Mr. Bilirakis) and the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Walz)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Florida.
General Leave
Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and
include extraneous material on the bill, H.R. 1133, as amended.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Florida?
There was no objection.
Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1133, as amended, the
Veterans Transplant Coverage Act of 2017.
This bill is meant to remove an unnecessary barrier to care for
veterans in need of transplants involving a living donor.
Last year, Mr. Charles Nelson, a 100 percent service-connected
veteran from Texas, sought a kidney transplant through the Department
of Veterans Affairs with Mr. Nelson's nonveteran son, Austin, serving
as Mr. Nelson's live donor.
Rather than travel from his home in Texas to VA transplant centers in
either Nashville, Tennessee, or Portland, Oregon, Mr. Nelson requested
to receive his transplant at the University Hospital in San Antonio
using the Choice Program. However, his request was denied by VA because
Austin was not a veteran, and, therefore, VA did not believe the
Department had the authority to pay for this portion of the transplant
procedure with Choice funds.
Mr. Nelson eventually received his transplant in San Antonio using
his Medicare benefits, private donations, and personal savings to cover
the cost of his and Austin's care.
To prevent any other veterans from being unable to access transplant
care in the community under Choice, H.R. 1133, as amended, would amend
the Choice Program to allow VA to pay for any care or services a live
donor may require to carry out a transplant procedure for an eligible
veteran, notwithstanding that the live donor may not be eligible for VA
healthcare.
I thank my friend from Texas, Congressman Carter, for his dedication
to solving this problem for his constituent, Mr. Nelson, and for
veterans and families across the country. This is how Congress should
work. He is a great representative, and I am really proud to serve with
him.
Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to join me in supporting
H.R. 1133, as amended, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. WALZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 1133.
And, again, the gentleman was very clear: by allowing the VA to
provide healthcare to non-VA eligible donors, veterans can more easily
receive lifesaving donations from their families and friends. Family
members of veterans are often the best match for providing a veteran
with a live organ donation and are typically more willing to be a live
donor.
Under current law, a veteran can receive only a live organ donation
from another veteran receiving the transplant at a VA hospital.
This is one of those pieces of legislation that, I think, when many
of us saw it brought forward, makes great common sense. It is the right
thing to do. I understand possibly why they put that in there. But all
of us know that it is going to be that exact scenario that it is going
to be a family member or someone near who is going to want to do the
transplant. If the best place to do that for the veteran is at the VA
hospital, and they can get them in, it makes great sense to do it.
So I do want to also thank Representative Carter for bringing this
forward.
This is, again, improving care, and making sure that we are focusing
on the issues that we can make a difference on.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from
Texas (Mr. Carter).
Mr. CARTER of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding,
and I thank Mr. Bilirakis and Mr. Walz for rising in support of this.
When Mr. Nelson and his family came to me with this, the first thing
I thought was: That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard.
You have a child, waiting to give you a live kidney in a transplant,
and he is eliminated as a donor because he is not a veteran. It is hard
enough to find live transplants as it is. And common sense by everybody
who ever knew anybody who got one knows: the best source is
[[Page H8554]]
a family member because it has got the best chance for a match and the
best chance for success.
Yet the VA had a limitation that he had to be a veteran. Now, what
are the chances of all your family being veterans when all of a sudden
you have renal failure and have to have a kidney? They have got to be
off the wall, and that is ridiculous.
So, Mr. Speaker, I filed this bill to correct this mess.
My colleague has given a great description of what happened to the
Nelsons. But, more importantly, common sense--and I like the mention of
that--tells us that you can't eliminate the best pool of donors that a
family has because of their lack of being a veteran.
And we all know--we heard Mr. O'Rourke say previously--we are down to
about 1 percent of our Nation actually serves in the military anymore.
So this is a commonsense fix for a commonsense problem.
Mr. Speaker, I am really proud of my staff. They have worked really
hard on this. They stayed at it and stayed at it. We got the attention
of the VA, and I am happy for their cooperation. I want to thank the
committee. They were overwhelmingly supportive on both sides of the
aisle. I urged my colleagues to fix a commonsense problem and allow a
son to give a kidney to his father at a facility that is most
convenient to the family, which is all common sense, so that our
veterans, who have given their all for us, have the right to have the
best healthcare available to American citizens, and that is what this
bill will provide.
There was such a good explanation by my colleagues that I didn't go
into the details. But I just want to tell you that when you have a
constituent come in with a commonsense problem, we have a duty and a
responsibility to fix it because common sense is in short supply in
Washington, D.C.
Mr. WALZ. Mr. Speaker, in closing, I thank Judge Carter. Everybody
make note of this. Common sense is going to prevail. We are in full
support of H.R. 1133.
Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to vote accordingly, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, in closing, once again, I urge my
colleagues to pass this very important bill. I encourage the Senate to
pass it as soon as possible so we can get it on the President's desk.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, H.R. 1133, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
The title of the bill was amended so as to read: ``A bill to amend
the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 to
authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide for an operation
on a live donor for purposes of conducting a transplant procedure for a
veteran, and for other purposes.''.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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