[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3033 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 3033
To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish partnerships
between medical facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs and
medical facilities in rural areas, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
October 22 (legislative day, October 21), 2025
Ms. Duckworth (for herself and Mrs. Blackburn) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans'
Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish partnerships
between medical facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs and
medical facilities in rural areas, 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 ``Improving Access to Care for Rural
Veterans Act''.
SEC. 2. PARTNERSHIPS BETWEEN MEDICAL FACILITIES OF DEPARTMENT OF
VETERANS AFFAIRS AND RURAL MEDICAL FACILITIES.
(a) Partnerships.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall
require that each medical facility of the Department of
Veterans Affairs enter into a partnership with a medical
facility in a rural area.
(2) Agreements.--Each partnership entered into under
paragraph (1) may include an agreement for provision of
telehealth, co-location or leasing of space or equipment,
training, care coordination, emergency services (including
transportation), or other services as determined appropriate.
(3) Purpose of partnership.--The purpose of any partnership
entered into under paragraph (1) shall be to provide greater
access to care for veterans in rural areas and to reduce costs
to all entities within the partnership.
(b) Waiver.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary may waive the requirement
under subsection (a)(1) with respect to a medical facility for
a period not to exceed five years, subject to such requirements
as the Secretary may establish, if the Secretary notifies
Congress of the waiver not later than 48 hours before the
waiver takes effect.
(2) Renewal.--The Secretary may renew a waiver under
paragraph (1) with respect to a medical facility only if the
Secretary, in consultation with the head of the medical
facility, evaluates the need for the waiver and determines that
the waiver is necessary.
(c) Briefing.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall provide to the appropriate
committees of Congress a briefing on the plans of the Secretary for the
implementation of the requirement under subsection (a)(1), including--
(1) a timeline for implementation of such requirement;
(2) an identification of an official of the Department
responsible for oversight and implementation of such
requirement;
(3) an update on the establishment of any office, task
force, or personnel assignments to support the implementation
of such requirement;
(4) a description of the plan of the Department for
oversight of such requirement;
(5) a standardized form or forms to be used for waivers
under subsection (b) and an explanation of the criteria for
eligibility for such a waiver; and
(6) such other information as the Secretary considers to be
of interest to the appropriate committees of Congress.
(d) Report.--Not later than two years after the date of the
enactment of this Act, and biennially thereafter, the Secretary shall
submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report on the
operation and performance of partnerships entered into under subsection
(a), including--
(1) new partnerships created, in the case of the initial
report, since the date of the enactment of this Act, and, in
the case of any subsequent report, during the period following
the previous report;
(2) existing partnerships between medical facilities of the
Department and medical facilities in rural areas; and
(3) as assessment of the success of all partnerships
described in paragraphs (1) and (2) in delivering services to
veterans in rural areas, including--
(A) the number of veterans enrolled in the system
of annual patient enrollment of the Department under
section 1705(a) of title 38, United States Code, in the
region in which the partnered medical facilities are
located compared to the previous five-year period;
(B) an evaluation of accessibility to services as
compared to the services available to those veterans
prior to the implementation of such partnerships;
(C) an overview of new best practices developed for
such partnerships and the Department more broadly; and
(D) the number of veterans receiving compensation
from the Department for a service-connected disability
in the region in which the partnered medical facilities
are located compared to the previous five-year period.
(e) Timeline.--
(1) Existing facilities.--Except as provided in paragraph
(2), by not later than three years after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall ensure that all
medical facilities of the Department that are seeing patients
are compliant with the requirement under subsection (a)(1) or
have received a waiver under subsection (b).
(2) New facilities.--The Secretary shall ensure that any
medical facility of the Department established after the date
of the enactment of this Act is compliant with the requirement
under subsection (a)(1) or has received a waiver under
subsection (b) by not later than three years after the date on
which patients are first seen at the medical facility.
(f) Relationship to Existing Law.--The requirements and authorities
under this section are in addition to, and separate from, the authority
under section 8153 of title 38, United States Code.
(g) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Appropriate committees of congress.--The term
``appropriate committees of Congress'' means--
(A) the Committee on Veterans' Affairs and the
Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and
(B) the Committee on Veterans' Affairs and the
Committee on Appropriations of the House of
Representatives.
(2) Partnership.--The term ``partnership'' includes a
leasing or co-location agreement, a memorandum of
understanding, a partnership agreement, an employment contract,
an independent contractor agreement, a service agreement, or
any other similar agreement.
(3) Rural.--The term ``rural'' has the meaning given that
term under the Rural-Urban Commuting Areas (RUCA) coding system
of the Department of Agriculture.
(4) Service-connected.--The term ``service-connected'' has
the meaning given that term in section 101(16) of title 38,
United States Code.
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