[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 10153 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 10153
To designate Regional Breast and Gynecologic Cancer Care Coordinators
to expand the work of the Breast and Gynecologic Oncology System of
Excellence at the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
November 18, 2024
Ms. Garcia of Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred
to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To designate Regional Breast and Gynecologic Cancer Care Coordinators
to expand the work of the Breast and Gynecologic Oncology System of
Excellence at the Department of Veterans Affairs, 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 ``Women Veterans Cancer Care
Coordination Act''.
SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS REGIONAL BREAST CANCER AND
GYNECOLOGIC CANCER CARE COORDINATORS.
(a) Establishment.--Not later than one year after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall hire or
designate a Regional Breast Cancer and Gynecologic Cancer Care
Coordinator at each Veteran Integrated Services Network (hereinafter in
this section referred to as ``VISN''). Each Care Coordinator hired or
designated under this subsection shall report directly to the Director
of the Breast and Gynecologic Oncology System of Excellence
(hereinafter in this section referred to as the ``BGOSoE'').
(b) Eligible Veterans.--A veteran is eligible to receive care
coordination provided by a Care Coordinator hired or designated under
subsection (a) if the veteran--
(1) is diagnosed with a breast or gynecologic cancer, or
has been identified as having a precancerous breast or
gynecologic condition; and
(2) is eligible for health care furnished through the
Veterans Community Care Program under section 1703 of title 38,
United States Code, at a non-Department facility.
(c) Locations.--The Secretary shall establish regions for purposes
of care coordination provided by Regional Breast Cancer and Gynecologic
Cancer Care Coordinators hired or designated under subsection (a). In
establishing such regions, the Secretary shall--
(1) assign all Department facilities to an appropriate
region under the supervision of the BGOSoE Director and a
designated Regional Breast and Gynecologic Cancer Care
Coordinator; and
(2) take into account existing VISNs and the specific needs
of veterans in each region, including veterans living in rural
communities.
(d) Duties of Regional Breast and Gynecological Cancer Care
Coordinators.--The Regional Breast Cancer and Gynecologic Cancer Care
Coordinator hired or designated under subsection (a) shall be
responsible for carrying out the following duties:
(1) Ensuring the coordination of care between clinicians of
the Department and breast and gynecologic cancer community care
providers.
(2) Working with the Office of Community Care of the
relevant medical facility of the Department regarding care
furnished under such section.
(3) Making regular contact with each veteran based on the
veteran's specific medical needs when the veteran receives care
from a community care provider.
(4) Monitoring--
(A) the services furnished to veterans by the
Department and community care providers;
(B) the health outcomes of veterans with respect to
a cancer diagnosis, including remission, metastasis,
and death; and
(C) the data relating to breast and gynecologic
cancer care (using relevant databases of the Veterans
Health Administration or other Department databases),
including--
(i) the demographics of veterans who have
breast or gynecologic cancer; and
(ii) the number of veterans being treated
for breast or gynecologic cancer.
(5) Providing particular information to veterans with
breast or gynecologic cancer, including--
(A) how to seek emergency care at the emergency
department closest to the residence of the veteran,
including that it is generally advisable for veterans
to notify the Department of emergency care received at
a non-Department facility within 72 hours of receiving
care to facilitate the authorization of payments for
such emergency treatment; and
(B) information about mental health resources,
including with respect to information encouraging
follow-up care for depression.
(6) Documenting certain information on veterans receiving
care for breast or gynecologic care in the electronic health
records of the Department, including--
(A) the documentation of the contact described in
paragraph (3);
(B) the contact information of the breast or
gynecologic cancer care community care providers of
such veterans; and
(C) the breast or gynecologic cancer diagnosis of
veterans.
(7) Carrying out such other duties as may be determined
appropriate by the Secretary.
(e) Report.--Not later than three years after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the Committees on
Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and the House of Representatives a
report containing the following:
(1) A comparison of the health outcomes of veterans who
received cancer care at a Department facility and those who
received care furnished by non-Department medical providers
pursuant to section 1703 of title 38, United States Code,
include with respect to the following:
(A) Treatment and types of health outcomes,
including (for the most recent three years of available
data)--
(i) the number of veterans who were
diagnosed with a breast or gynecologic cancer,
or precancerous breast or gynecologic
condition;
(ii) the percentage of such veterans who
have experienced a cancer-related death; and
(iii) the percentage of such veterans who
have entered remission for gynecologic cancer.
(B) Timeliness of care furnished under chapter 17
of title 38, United States Code, including how quickly
initial post-diagnosis appointments and appointments to
develop a treatment plan are scheduled and provided.
(C) Patient safety associated with such care at
Department facilities or community care providers,
including the number of errors in medical care that
rise to the level of ``never events'' (such as a
foreign body left in a veteran during surgery).
(2) An evaluation of what changes or additional resources
are needed to further improve breast and gynecologic cancer
care and coordination.
(3) Any other matter the Secretary determines appropriate.
(f) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) The term ``community care provider'' means a health
care provider described in section 1703(c) of title 38, United
States Code, who has entered into a contract or agreement to
furnish hospital care, medical services, or extended care
services (other than care related to breast and gynecologic
cancer) to veterans under section 1703 of title 38, United
States Code.
(2) The term ``breast and gynecologic cancer community care
provider'' means a breast or gynecologic cancer care provider
described in section 1703(c) of title 38, United States Code,
who has entered into a contract or agreement to furnish
hospital care, medical services, or extended care services to
provide care related to breast or gynecologic cancer to
veterans under section 1703 of title 38F, United States Code.
(3) The term ``breast cancer'' has the meaning given such
term by the Director of the Breast and Gynecologic Oncology
System of Excellence.
(4) The term ``gynecologic cancer'' means cervical cancer,
ovarian cancer, uterine cancer, vaginal cancer, vulvar cancer,
and gestational trophoblastic neoplasia.
(5) The term ``non-Department facility'' has the meaning
given that term in section 1701 of title 38, United States
Code.
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