Department of Defense-Veterans Administration Health Care Planning and Improvements Act
Latest action. Referred to House Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
Department of Defense-Veterans' Administration Health Care Planning and Improvements Act - Title I: Use of Veterans' Administration Medical Resources in Treating Members of the Armed Forces Injured During a Period of War or Other Armed Conflict - Authorizes the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs to furnish hospital care to any member of the Armed Forces for a service-connected disability incurred or aggravated during a period of war or other armed conflict. Requires the Secretary of Defense to certify to the Administrator that the Armed Forces lacks the capacity to furnish such care because of the number of casualties sustained during such conflict. Directs the Administrator to prescribe regulations, not later than 180 days after enactment of this Act, to ensure that such members are given priority for hospital care over all other persons except veterans in need of such care for service-connected disabilities. Title II: Interagency Sharing of Medical Resources - Establishes the Federal Interagency Health Resources Committee to be composed of the Secretary of Defense and the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs. Directs the Committee: (1) to evaluate the opportunities for the interagency sharing of health resources between the Department of Defense and the Veterans' Administration; (2) to prescribe policies and procedures for such interagency sharing; and (3) within 180 days after enactment of this Act, to prescribe guidelines for such interagency sharing to the directors of health care facilities of the Department and the Administration. Requires such guidelines to provide that: (1) the director of each facility shall enter into cooperative arrangements for providing health care to beneficiaries of other facilities; (2) the availability of medical care to beneficiaries of an agency other than the providing agency shall be on a referral basis; (3) an agency shall be reimbursed for a medical service provided to a beneficiary of another agency; and (4) sharing agreements shall be operative upon agreement by medical facility directors unless disapproved by an agency involved. Directs the Administration and the Department to submit to specified congressional committees an annual report regarding interagency medical resource sharing activities.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on September 17, 1980. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on September 17, 1980: Referred to House Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 96th Congress (1979-80), 613 of the 12,581 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 4.9 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
ROBIN BEARD (R-TN) introduced it on September 17, 1980. No cosponsors are recorded.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on September 17, 1980, 16794 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 16794 days ago, on September 17, 1980.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 96th Congress has not finished by January 3, 1981 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers