Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Care Veterans Deserve Act of 2021”.
Care Veterans Deserve Act of 2021
A BILL
To make certain improvements in the provision of medical care by the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Eligibility of certain veterans with service-connected disabilities to receive non-Department of Veterans Affairs medical care under Veterans Community Care Program
In general— Paragraph (1) of subsection (d) of section 1703 of title 38, United States Code, as amended by section 101 of the Caring for Our Veterans Act of 2018 (Public Law 115–182) is amended—
in subparagraph (D), by striking “or” at the end;
in subparagraph (E), by striking the period and inserting “; or”; and
by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
“(F) the covered veteran has a service-connected disability rated at 50 percent or higher and elects to receive care or services through a non-Department provider.”
Effective date— The amendments made by subsection (a) shall apply as if originally enacted in the Caring for Our Veterans Act of 2018 (Public Law 115–182).
Sec. 3 Extension of operating hours for pharmacies and medical facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs
Extension of operating hours for pharmacies— The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall extend the operating hours for each pharmacy of the Department of Veterans Affairs during which the pharmacy offers services comparable to retail pharmacies to include—
operation on Saturday, Sunday, and Federal holidays; and
operation until 8:00 p.m. on weekdays that are not Federal holidays.
Contracts with providers during nights and weekends— The Secretary shall enter into contracts, including through locum tenens arrangements, with physicians and nurses that meet qualifications set forth by the Secretary for purposes of this section under which such physicians and nurses work at medical facilities of the Department during nights and weekends.
Support staff— The Secretary may obtain additional support staff as necessary to carry out this section, including by hiring employees or contracting for services.
Sec. 4 Conduct of best-practices peer review of each medical center of the Department of Veterans Affairs
In general— The Secretary of Veterans Affairs may provide for the conduct by a nongovernmental hospital organization of a best-practices peer review of each medical center of the Department of Veterans Affairs to evaluate the efficacy of health care delivered at each such medical center.
Priority— The Secretary shall give priority for peer review conducted under subsection (a) to the medical centers of the Department with the longest wait times for an appointment or the worst health outcomes, as determined by the Secretary.