(a) In general
Not later than one year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall commence a 5-year pilot program to provide greater access to care for eligible veterans in rural areas and reduce the initial or long-term costs to the Department or the eligible entity of providing such care for eligible veterans.
(b) Pilot program
In carrying out the pilot program, the Secretary shall ensure that each medical center of the Department participating in the pilot enters into or provides material support to an agreement with an eligible entity related to one or more of the following:
Co-location of Department and non- Department health care resources.
The provision of telehealth to eligible veterans by health care providers of the Department.
Leasing of space or equipment by or from the Department.
Training by health care providers of the Department of non-Department health care providers, subject to paragraph (4).
Care coordination for authorized care furnished by the eligible entity for eligible veterans.
Care coordination, including transportation coordination, for emergency treatment (as defined in section 1725(h) of title 38, United States Code.
The provision by the eligible entity of hospital care, medical services, or extended care services under section 1703 of this title.
Such other conditions or services directly related to health care as expressly authorized under laws administered by the Secretary.
(c) Types of arrangements
An agreement under subsection (b) may include a lease or co-location agreement, a memorandum of understanding, a partnership agreement, a contract or agreement for the mutual use or exchange of use of health-care resources, or any other similar agreement or arrangement.
(d) Report
For each year of the pilot, the Secretary shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report on the operation and performance of agreements entered into under subsection (a) including—
new agreements entered into, in the case of the initial report, since the date of the enactment of the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act , and, in the case of any subsequent report, during the period following the previous report;
an assessment of the success of all agreements entered into pursuant to this Act in delivering services to eligible veterans, including—
the number of eligible veterans, by region, who received services under an agreement compared to the previous five-year period;
an evaluation of accessibility to services for eligible veterans as compared to the accessibility of services for those veterans prior to the implementation of such agreements;
an overview of best practices, including new best practices, developed for such agreements and the Department more broadly;
the number of veterans receiving compensation from the Department for a service-connected disability, disaggregated by region, compared to the previous 5-year period; and
such other factors considered appropriate by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
(e) Definitions
In this section:
(1) Appropriate committees of congress
The term appropriate committees of Congress means—
the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and
the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives.
(2) Eligible entity
The term eligible entity means a non-Department entity or provider furnishing health care or health care services in a rural area.
(3) Eligible veteran
The term eligible veteran means a covered veteran under section 1703(b)16 of this title.
(4) Material support
The term material support means support provided by a health care provider or other staff of the Department to further the purpose or purposes of an agreement under subsection (a)(1) and may include—
the use of time or resources of health care providers of the Department;
the obligation or receipt of funds; and
such other support as the Secretary determines appropriate.
(5) Rural
The term rural , with respect to an area, means the area has a code other than 1 or 1.1 in the Rural-Urban Commuting Areas (RUCA) coding system of the Department of Agriculture.