[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5287 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5287
To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a pilot
program to provide veteran health savings accounts to allow veterans to
receive primary care furnished under non-Department direct primary care
service arrangements, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
August 25, 2023
Mr. Roy (for himself, Mr. Crane, Mr. Gooden of Texas, Mrs. Miller of
Illinois, Mr. Williams of Texas, and Mr. Bishop of North Carolina)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Veterans' Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a pilot
program to provide veteran health savings accounts to allow veterans to
receive primary care furnished under non-Department direct primary care
service arrangements, and for other purposes.
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 Access to Direct Primary
Care Act''.
SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM ON ESTABLISHMENT OF VETERAN HEALTH SAVINGS
ACCOUNTS TO ALLOW VETERANS TO ACCESS DIRECT PRIMARY CARE
SERVICE ARRANGEMENTS.
(a) Establishment.--Beginning one year after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall carry
out a five-year pilot program under which the Secretary shall provide
eligible veterans with the option to choose to receive primary care
services furnished by a non-Department of Veterans Affairs health care
provider under a direct primary care service arrangement through the
use of a veteran health savings account described in subsection (c).
The pilot program shall be conducted under the Center for Innovation
for Care and Payment under section 1703E of title 38, United States
Code.
(b) Eligible Veteran.--For purposes of the pilot program under this
section, an eligible veteran is a veteran who is enrolled in the
patient enrollment system of the Department of Veterans Affairs under
section 1705 of title 38, United States Code.
(c) Veteran Health Savings Accounts.--The Secretary shall provide
to an eligible veteran who participates in the pilot program a veterans
health savings account that may be used--
(1) to purchase primary care services furnished through a
non-Department direct primary care service arrangement; and
(2) for associated costs, including--
(A) periodic fees paid to a physician for a defined
set of medical services or for the right to receive
medical services on an as-needed basis;
(B) amounts paid or prepaid for medical services
designed to screen for, diagnose, cure, mitigate,
treat, or prevent disease and promote wellness; and
(C) prescription or non-prescription medicines or
drugs.
(d) Eligibility for Department Medical Care.--A veteran who chooses
to receive a veteran health savings account described under subsection
(c) may not receive medical care furnished by the Department of
Veterans Affairs that is included in the direct primary care service
arrangement described in such subsection during the period the veteran
participates in the pilot program.
(e) Prevention of Fraudulent Activity.--The Secretary shall
establish a mechanism to prevent fraudulent activity in connection with
payments made under this section and to ensure participating veterans
use health savings accounts only as authorized under this section.
(f) Amounts Deposited in Accounts.--The Secretary of Veterans
Affairs shall--
(1) determine the annual amount to be deposited in a
veteran health savings account described in subsection (c)
using calculations conducted by the Secretary and in
consultation with an actuarial service; and
(2) ensure that each participating eligible veteran
receives such amount on an annual basis during the period the
veteran participates in the pilot program.
(g) Direct Primary Care Service Arrangement.--In this section, the
term ``direct primary care service arrangement'' means an agreement
under which a defined set of medical services are provided to a patient
by a physician for fixed periodic fees.
(h) Reports.--
(1) Implementation reports.--For each calendar quarter
during the two-year period beginning on the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the
Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and House of
Representatives a report on the implementation of this section.
One such report shall include a description of the final design
of the pilot program.
(2) Annual reports.--Not later than one year after the date
on which the final implementation report required by paragraph
(1) is submitted, and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall
submit to the Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and
House of Representatives a report on the results of the pilot
program under this section.
(i) No Additional Appropriations.--Amounts required to carry out
this section shall be made available from amounts otherwise authorized
to be appropriated for the Veterans Health Administration.
(j) Termination.--The authority of the Secretary to deposit funds
in a veteran health savings account under this section shall terminate
on the date that is five years after the date of the enactment of this
Act.
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