HR 3447 · 107th Congress 2001–2003, ended

Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Programs Enhancement Act of 2001

Introduced Dec 11, 2001 Originated House Became Public Law 107-135 Sponsor Christopher H. Smith R-NJ

Fact sheet Spreadsheet

Latest action · Jan 23, 2002 Became Public Law No: 107-135.

Progress

Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.

  1. IntroducedDec 11, 2001
  2. Passed HouseDec 11, 2001
  3. Passed SenateDec 20, 2001
  4. To the PresidentJan 11, 2002
  5. Became lawJan 23, 2002Public Law 107-135

Summary

Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Programs Enhancement Act of 2001 - Title I: Enhancement of Nurse Recruitment and Retention Authorities - Subtitle A: Recruitment Authorities - Revises the Department of Veterans Affairs (Department) employee incentive scholarship program to: (1) repeal a provision requiring commencement of program participation prior to December 31, 2001; (2) reduce from two years to one the required period of continuous Department employment for program participation; (3) revise scholarship amounts; and (4) increase from three to six the number of school years for which a scholarship may be paid while limiting the total payment to the cost of three years of full-time course work.

(Sec. 102) Repeals a provision terminating on December 31, 2001, the education debt reduction program. Increases the maximum debt reduction amount under such program and allows the annual adjustment of such amount. Allows the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, until June 30, 2002, to expand the number of individuals eligible under such program.

(Sec. 103) Requires a report from the Secretary to the congressional veterans' committees and the National Commission on VA Nursing (established under this Act) on the use of the authority to request waivers of pay reductions for reemployed annuitants in order to meet requirements for appointments to nurse positions.

Subtitle B: Retention Authorities - Authorizes additional pay for Saturday duty for health care professionals in the Department's Veterans Health Administration (VHA).

(Sec. 122) Allows unused sick leave to be included in the annuity computation for VHA registered nurses.

(Sec. 123) Directs the Secretary to: (1) evaluate the efficacy of the Department's nurse managed health care clinics; (2) establish a nationwide policy on the staffing of Department medical facilities; (3) report on the use of authorities for retaining experienced nurses; and (4) report on mandatory overtime required of licensed nurses and nurse assistants providing direct patient care.

Subtitle C: Other Authorities - Requires the Department's Director of Nursing Service to report directly to the Under Secretary for Health.

(Sec. 132) Makes Federal annuity computation provisions inapplicable to the part-time service before April 7, 1986, of a Department registered nurse, physician assistant, or expanded-function dental auxiliary, instead requiring such service to be credited as full-time service.

Subtitle D: National Commission on VA Nursing - Establishes in the Department the National Commission on VA Nursing to: (1) consider and recommend legislative and organizational policy changes to enhance the Department's recruitment and retention of nurses and other nursing personnel; and (2) assess the future of the Department's nursing profession. Requires a report from the Commission to Congress and the Secretary and from the Secretary to Congress concerning such recommendations. Terminates the Commission 90 days after its report.

Title II: Other Matters - Authorizes the Secretary to provide: (1) service dogs to veterans enrolled in the veterans' patient enrollment system who are hearing impaired or have a spinal cord injury or dysfunction; and (2) related travel and incidental expenses.

(Sec. 202) Adds as a basis for determining a veteran's inability to defray expenses of necessary medical care whether the veteran is eligible for treatment as a low-income family under provisions of the United States Housing Act of 1937. Reduces by 80 percent the required copayments for low-income veterans enrolled in the veterans' patient enrollment system.

(Sec. 203) Provides the basis for maintenance of the Department's capacity to provide for the specialized treatment and rehabilitative needs of disabled veterans who: (1) are seriously mentally ill; or (2) have spinal cord dysfunction, traumatic brain injury, blindness, or prosthetics and sensory aids. Requires each geographic service area of the VHA to maintain such capacity. Extends through 2004 requirements for reports on the maintenance of such capacity.

(Sec. 204) Directs the Secretary to: (1) carry out, through Department medical centers and clinics, a program to provide chiropractic care and services to veterans enrolled in the veterans' patient enrollment system; and (2) establish an advisory committee to provide direct assistance and advice in such program's development and implementation.

(Sec. 205) Requires amounts for activities of the field offices of the Department's Office of Research Compliance and Assurance to be derived from amounts appropriated for the VHA for Medical Care, rather than amounts appropriated for the VHA for Medical and Prosthetic Research.

(Sec. 206) Authorizes the Secretary to carry out a major medical facility project for the renovation from electrical fire of the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Miami, Florida. Authorizes appropriations.

(Sec. 207) Expresses the sense of Congress that the Secretary should conduct an assessment of all special telephone services for veterans that are provided by the Department.

(Sec. 208) Directs the Secretary to provide consultation, counseling, training, and mental health services to family members in connection with a veteran receiving treatment for a service-connected disability and authorizes the Secretary to provide such services in connection with a veteran receiving treatment for a non-service-connected disability. Authorizes related travel and transportation expenses.

Authorizes the Secretary to provide: (1) bereavement counseling to family members of veterans who die in the line of duty or veterans who were participating in a hospice program; and (2) humanitarian hospital or medical care in emergency cases (for a charge).

Extends through FY 2007 the Secretary's authority to charge certain medical care copayments.

(Sec. 210) Directs the Secretary to: (1) evaluate and study the feasibility and desirability of providing a personal emergency response system to veterans who have service-connected disabilities; (2) report study results to the veterans' committees; and (3) implement such a system if found feasible and desirable.

(Sec. 211) Extends through December 31, 2002, the eligibility for Department hospital and nursing home care and medical services for veterans who served in Southwest Asia during the Persian Gulf War.

Cosponsors 3

Members who signed on, in the order they did. All signed on Dec 11, 2001.

SeatCosponsorSigned on
D-CABob FilnerOriginalDec 11, 2001
R-KSJerry MoranOriginalDec 11, 2001
D-ILLane EvansOriginalDec 11, 2001

Committees 1

Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.

ChamberCommitteeWhat it did
HouseVeterans' Affairs Committee
Referred Dec 11, 2001

Actions 13

Everything that happened, newest first.

  1. Jan 23, 2002Signed by President.
  2. Jan 23, 2002Became Public Law No: 107-135.
  3. Jan 11, 2002Presented to President.
  4. Dec 21, 2001Message on Senate action sent to the House.
  5. Dec 20, 2001Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent. (consideration: CR S14075-14080)
  6. Dec 12, 2001Received in the Senate, read twice.
  7. Dec 11, 2001Introduced in House
  8. Dec 11, 2001Referred to the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
  9. Dec 11, 2001Mr. Smith (NJ) moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill.
  10. Dec 11, 2001Considered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H9217-9225)
  11. Dec 11, 2001DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 3447.
  12. Dec 11, 2001Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H9217-9223)
  13. Dec 11, 2001Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.

In the Congressional Record 4

Days the Record’s own index lists this bill, newest first, with the pages and the members it names. Pages starting H are the House, S the Senate, E Extensions of Remarks.

WhereIn the RecordMembersDate
Senate · ExtensionsDebate and remarks E2404, S13930, S14075–S14080Explanations E2404–E2408Committee on Veterans Affairs (House) and Committee on Veterans Affairs (Senate)Summaries S14077–S14080Arlen Specter D-PA, Christopher H. Smith R-NJ, Harry Reid D-NV, John D. Rockefeller IV D-WVDec 20, 2001
ExtensionsDebate and remarks E2312, E2317Benjamin A. Gilman R-NY, Jerry Moran R-KSDec 14, 2001
ExtensionsDebate and remarks E2267Tom Udall D-NMDec 12, 2001
HouseDebate and remarks H9217–H9225Text printed H9217–H9223Summaries H9224Bob Filner D-CA, Christopher H. Smith R-NJ, Lane Evans D-ILDec 11, 2001

Research

What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.

Congressional Budget Office cost estimates 2

  1. Jan 4, 2002H.R. 3447, Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Programs<p>Pay-as-you-go estimate for the bill as cleared by the Congress on December 20, 2001</p>
  2. Jan 4, 2002H.R. 3447, Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care ProgramsPay-as-you-go estimate for the bill as cleared by the Congress on December 20, 2001

Related bills 3

Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.

BillTitleRelationshipLatest action
S 1188Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Programs Enhancement Act of 2001Related billOct 10, 2001
HR 2792Disabled Veterans Service Dog and Health Care Improvement Act of 2001Related billOct 24, 2001
HR 3017Department of Veterans Affairs Nurse Recruitment and Retention Enhancement Act of 2001Related billOct 31, 2001

Titles 4

Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.

Official Title as Introduced
To amend title 38, United States Code, to enhance the authority of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to recruit and retain qualified nurses for the Veterans Health Administration, to provide an additional basis for establishing the inability of veterans to defray expenses of necessary medical care, to enhance certain health care programs of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.
Short Titles as Introduced
Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Programs Enhancement Act of 2001
Short Titles as Passed House
Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Programs Enhancement Act of 2001
Short Titles as Enacted
Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Programs Enhancement Act of 2001

Subjects

Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security.

Text 4

Each version as it was printed, newest first.

  1. —Enrolled Bill
  2. Dec 12, 2001Received in Senate
  3. Dec 11, 2001Considered and Passed House
  4. Dec 11, 2001Engrossed in House

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Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.