Women Veterans Cancer Care Coordination Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1860 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1860

 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

                             March 5, 2025

   Ms. Garcia of Texas (for herself and Ms. Brownley) 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.
                                 <all>