US Congress Senate Bill 2422 (Prior Session Legislation)

---

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 32-1)
Status: Introduced on June 3 2014 - 25% progression, died in chamber
Action: 2014-06-04 - Read the second time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 408.
Text: Latest bill text (Introduced) [PDF]

Ensuring Veterans Access to Care Act of 2014 - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to: (1) implement an upgraded and centralized electronic system for scheduling individuals' appointments for VA health care, and (2) contract for an independent assessment of the process at each VA medical facility for scheduling such appointments. Sets forth measures concerning the training and hiring of VA health personnel that: protect primary care physicians from liability for failing to perform their period of obligated service under the Health Professionals Educational Assistance Program due to VA staffing changes or an oversupply of primary care physicians; allow individuals, as part of that Program, to enroll in the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences to pursue a medical education with a primary care specialization; require the Secretary to annually identify the five VA health care occupations for which there are the largest staffing shortages, to recruit and appoint health care providers to those positions, and to give scholarship priority under the Health Professionals Educational Assistance Program to applicants pursuing careers in those occupations; direct the Secretary to implement a clinic management training program to provide in-person, standardized education on health care management to all managers of, and health care providers at, VA medical facilities; and include service at VA medical facilities as obligated service under the National Health Service Corps Scholarship and Loan Repayment Programs. Establishes measures to improve veterans' access to health care from non-VA providers by: requiring the Secretary to make enhanced use of the Secretary's existing authorities to give veterans access to health care at non-VA facilities if they cannot get timely access to care at VA health facilities; extending a joint Department of Defense (DOD)-VA program to identify, implement, and evaluate creative health care coordination and sharing initiatives at facility, intraregional, and nationwide levels; requiring the Secretary to transfer the authority to pay for health care through non-VA facilities from the VA's Veterans Integrated Service Networks and medical centers to the Veterans Health Administration's Chief Business Office; requiring the Secretary to provide outreach to Indian medical facilities regarding their ability to enter into agreements with the VA for reimbursement for providing veterans with health care; requiring the Secretary to enter into agreements to reimburse Native Hawaiian health care systems for the provision of health care to veterans. Sets forth VA health care administrative matters, which include: requiring the Secretary to improve veterans' access to telemedicine and other health care through the use of VA mobile vet centers by establishing standardized requirements for the operation of such centers, establishing the Commission on Access to Care, establishing the Commission on Capital Planning for Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Facilities, and authorizing the Secretary to remove any individual from the Senior Executive Service if the Secretary determines that the individual's performance warrants such removal. Authorizes the Secretary to carry out certain major medical facility leases at specified locations for up to specified amounts. Sets forth requirements for the budgetary treatment of such leases.

Ensuring Veterans Access to Care Act of 2014

Sen. Bernard Sanders [I-VT]	Sen. Tammy Baldwin [D-WI]	Sen. Mark Begich [D-AK]	Sen. Richard Blumenthal [D-CT]
Sen. Cory Booker [D-NJ]	Sen. Sherrod Brown [D-OH]	Sen. Robert Casey [D-PA]	Sen. Christopher Coons [D-DE]
Sen. Richard Durbin [D-IL]	Sen. Dianne Feinstein [D-CA]	Sen. Al Franken [D-MN]	Sen. Kay Hagan [D-NC]
Sen. Tom Harkin [D-IA]	Sen. Martin Heinrich [D-NM]	Sen. Heidi Heitkamp [D-ND]	Sen. Mazie Hirono [D-HI]
Sen. Tim Kaine [D-VA]	Sen. Amy Klobuchar [D-MN]	Sen. Mary Landrieu [D-LA]	Sen. Patrick Leahy [D-VT]
Sen. Edward Markey [D-MA]	Sen. Robert Menendez [D-NJ]	Sen. Jeff Merkley [D-OR]	Sen. Jack Reed [D-RI]
Sen. John Rockefeller [D-WV]	Sen. Brian Schatz [D-HI]	Sen. Charles Schumer [D-NY]	Sen. Jeanne Shaheen [D-NH]
Sen. Jon Tester [D-MT]	Sen. Tom Udall [D-NM]	Sen. John Walsh [D-MT]	Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse [D-RI]
Sen. Ron Wyden [D-OR]

Date	Chamber	Action
2014-06-04	Senate	Read the second time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 408.
2014-06-03	Senate	Introduced in the Senate. Read the first time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under Read the First Time. (text of measure as introduced: CR S3370-3379)
2014-06-03	Senate	Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S3369-3370)

HB2913 (Related) 2013-08-13 - Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
HB3521 (Related) 2013-12-20 - Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
HB4861 (Related) 2014-06-27 - Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
SB1740 (Related) 2013-11-20 - Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
SB2413 (Related) 2014-06-02 - Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

Type	Source
Summary	https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/senate-bill/2422/all-info
Text	https://www.congress.gov/113/bills/s2422/BILLS-113s2422pcs.pdf