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Veterans Preventive Health Coverage Fairness Act

S. 1573 · 116th Congress · May 21, 2019 · Lineage

A BILL

To amend title 38, United States Code, to eliminate copayments by the Department of Veterans Affairs for medicines relating to preventive health services, and for other purposes.

1. Short title

This Act may be cited as the “Veterans Preventive Health Coverage Fairness Act”.

2. Improvement to preventive health services furnished by Department of Veterans Affairs

(a)
Elimination of medication copayments— Section 1722A(a)(3) of title 38, United States Code, is amended—
(1)
in subparagraph (C), by striking “or”;
(2)
in subparagraph (D), by striking the period at the end and inserting “; or”; and
(3)
by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:

“(E) to medication that is or is part of a preventive health service.”

(b)
Elimination of hospital care and medical services copayments— Section 1710 of such title is amended—
(1)
in subsection (f)—
(A)
by redesignating paragraph (5) as paragraph (6); and
(B)
by inserting after paragraph (4) the following new paragraph (5):

“(5) A veteran shall not be liable to the United States under this subsection for any amounts for preventive health services.”

(2)
in subsection (g)(3), by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:

“(C) Preventive health services.”

(c)
Definition— Section 1701(9) of such title is amended—
(1)
in subparagraph (K), by striking “; and” and inserting a semicolon;
(2)
by redesignating subparagraph (L) as subparagraph (O); and
(3)
by inserting after subparagraph (K) the following new subparagraphs:

“(L) evidence-based items or services that have in effect a rating of “A” or “B” in the current recommendations of the United States Preventive Services Task Force;

“(M) immunizations that have in effect a recommendation from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with respect to the individual involved;

“(N) with respect to services for women, the preventive care and screenings provided for in the Health Resources and Services Administration Preventive Services Guidelines in effect as of January 1, 2017; and”