Veterans Benefits Act of 1999

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title I: Medical Care

Subtitle A: Long-Term Care

Subtitle B: Management of Medical Facilities and

Property

Subtitle C: Homeless Veterans

Subtitle D: Other Health Care Provisions

Subtitle E: Major Medical Facility Projects

Construction Authorization

Title II: Benefits Matters

Title III: Memorial Affairs

Subtitle A: Arlington National Cemetery

Subtitle B: World War II Memorial

Title IV: United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims

Veterans Benefits Act of 1999 - Title I: Medical Care - Subtitle A: Long-Term Care - Includes the following types of noninstitutional extended care services within the definition of "medical services" authorized to be provided to eligible veterans: (1) home-based primary care; (2) adult day health care; (3) respite care; (4) palliative and end-of-life care; and (5) home health aide visits.

(Sec. 102) Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out three pilot programs for determining the feasibility and practicability of a variety of methods of meeting the long-term care needs of eligible veterans. Requires each such program to be carried out in two designated Department health care regions selected by the Secretary. Requires the services provided under each pilot program to include a comprehensive array of services which meet such long-term needs, including: (1) inpatient long-term care in intermediate beds, nursing homes, and domiciliary care facilities; and (2) non- institutional long-term care. Requires the Secretary to: (1) provide appropriate case management services; and (2) emphasize the provision of preventive care services.

Requires the Secretary, under one pilot program, to provide long- term care services to eligible veterans: (1) directly through Department facilities and personnel; (2) through a combination of Department facilities and services provided under cooperative arrangements with public and private nongovernmental entities; and (3) through arrangements with non-Department entities under which the Secretary acts solely as the case manager for such services. Directs the Secretary to: (1) collect data concerning program cost, quality, and effectiveness; and (2) report to Congress on services furnished to meet the long-term care needs of eligible veterans.

(Sec. 103) Directs the Secretary to carry out a pilot program to determine the feasibility and practicability of providing assisted living services to eligible veterans. Requires such program to be carried out at a designated Department health care region selected by the Secretary. Prohibits such services from being provided unless the eligible veteran agrees to pay the United States a certain statutory amount for such services. Allows such services to be provided to the spouse of such veteran as long as such services are provided coincidentally with the services provided the veteran and the spouse pays a like amount for such services. Requires annual program reports from the Secretary to the congressional veterans' committees.

Subtitle B: Management of Medical Facilities and Property - Increases to 55 years the maximum authorized term for leases of Department real property entered into by the Secretary (enhanced-use leases). Allows funds for Department construction, minor projects, to be used by the Secretary to contribute to capital activities on such leased property. Extends through December 31, 2011, the authority to enter into such leases. Directs the Secretary to: (1) provide appropriate training and outreach to personnel of Department medical facilities regarding enhanced-use lease authority; and (2) secure an independent analysis of Department opportunities for using such lease authority.

(Sec. 112) Designates the hospital bed replacement building under construction at the Ioannis A. Lougaris Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Reno, Nevada, as the Jack Streeter Building.

Subtitle C: Homeless Veterans - Amends the Homeless Veterans Comprehensive Service Programs Act of 1992 to: (1) authorize the Secretary to make grants to expand existing programs for furnishing certain assistance to homeless veterans; (2) extend through FY 2001 the authority to make such grants; and (3) authorize appropriations for such programs for FY 2000 and 2001.

(Sec. 123) Amends the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act to authorize appropriations for FY 2000 and 2001 for homeless veterans' reintegration projects.

(Sec. 124) Directs the Secretary to report to the veterans' committees a detailed plan for evaluating the effectiveness of programs to assist homeless veterans.

Subtitle D: Other Health Care Provisions - Authorizes the provision of emergency health care in non-Department facilities for veterans enrolled in the Department's annual patient enrollment system. Authorizes such care for the treatment of an emergency medical condition, defined as a condition which does or could result in: (1) placing the health of the individual in serious jeopardy; or (2) serious impairment to bodily functions or serious dysfunction of a body organ or part. Authorizes: (1) the use of contract care to treat such conditions; and (2) reimbursement of veterans for expenses incurred in receiving such care in a non-Department facility. Directs the Secretary, as a condition to payment for such treatment under a contract, to require that payment shall be made by the Secretary for such care only after any payment that may be made with respect to such treatment: (1) under part A or B of Medicare (title XVIII of the Social Security Act); or (2) by a third-party insurer.

(Sec. 132) Directs the Secretary to carry out programs to enhance the provision of specialized mental health services to veterans, including programs relating to the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder and substance use disorders. Requires reports from the Secretary to Congress in each of the years 2000 through 2002.

(Sec. 133) Removes certain restrictions on the authorized use of Department facilities to treat military personnel for an alcohol or drug dependence or abuse disability.

(Sec. 134) Allows amounts from the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Care Collections Fund to be distributed to each Department medical facility (currently, each designated health care region).

(Sec. 135) Amends the Persian Gulf War Veterans' Benefits Act to extend through December 31, 2002: (1) a newsletter concerning medical care furnished to Persian Gulf War veterans; and (2) a program for evaluating the health of spouses and children of such veterans.

(Sec. 136) Directs the Secretaries of Veterans Affairs and Defense to report jointly to the veterans' and defense committees on cooperation between their respective departments in the procurement of pharmaceuticals and medical supplies.

(Sec. 137) Directs the Secretary, during the one-year period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, to use the fee-for- service payment schedule for the reimbursement of medical expenses of veterans in Alaska rather than the Participating Physician Fee Schedule under the Medicare program. Requires a joint report from the Secretaries of Veterans Affairs and Health and Human Services to the veterans' committees on the use of the latter program to calculate such reimbursement rates.

(Sec. 138) Repeals the four-year term limit for the positions of Under Secretary for Health and Under Secretary for Benefits within the Department.

Subtitle E: Major Medical Facility Projects Construction Authorization - Authorizes the Secretary to carry out major medical facility projects at Department facilities in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, Fargo, North Dakota, Kansas City, Missouri, and Atlanta, Georgia. Authorizes appropriations, with a limitation. Amends the Veterans Programs Enhancement Act of 1998 to make certain funds appropriated for FY 2000 pursuant to authorization under this Act available for projects under such Act.

Title II: Benefits Matters - Requires Filipino veterans of World War II, in order to receive burial benefit payments, to be individuals who, on their date of death: (1) were citizens of the United States; (2) were residing in the United States; and (3) either were receiving veterans' disability compensation or, if their service was deemed active military service, would have been paid a military pension but for an applicable net worth limitation.

(Sec. 202) Extends through December 31, 2004: (1) the authority to maintain a regional office in the Republic of the Philippines; and (2) the Advisory Committee on Minority Veterans.

(Sec. 204) Authorizes the payment of dependency and indemnity compensation for the surviving spouse of a former prisoner of war whose disability was continuously rated as totally disabling for the one-year period immediately preceding death.

(Sec. 205) Repeals certain limitations on the payment of benefits to incompetent institutionalized veterans.

(Sec. 206) Amends Federal employment law to provide for the competitive and appointment status of preference eligible veterans.

Title III: Memorial Affairs - Subtitle A: Arlington National Cemetery - Arlington National Cemetery Burial and Inurnment Eligibility Act of 1999 - Authorizes the remains of the following individuals to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery (Cemetery): (1) any member who dies while on active duty; (2) any retired member and any person who served on active duty who at the time of death was entitled to military retired pay (or would have been so entitled but for his or her age); (3) any former member who was separated for physical disability before October 1, 1949, who served on active duty, and who would have been eligible for disability retirement if such provisions had been in effect on such date; (4) any former member whose last active military service was terminated honorably and who has been awarded one of a number of specified military decorations; (5) any former prisoner of war who dies on or after November 30, 1993; (6) the President and any former President; and (7) any former member whose last discharge or separation from active service was under honorable conditions and who is or was a Vice President, Member of Congress, Chief or Associate Supreme Court justice, head of an executive department or agency, or individual who died while serving in a hostile action as part of the foreign or national security services.

Authorizes the Secretary of Defense or the President, upon a determination that certain acts, service, or other contributions so merit, to bury such member in such Cemetery, as long as the member's last discharge or release from active duty was under honorable conditions. Requires, in such cases: (1) a report from either the President or such Secretary to the veterans' committees within 72 hours after such authorized burial; and (2) publication of a notice of such authorization in the Federal Register as soon as practicable. Authorizes Cemetery burial for certain family members of individuals made eligible under the above provisions, with conditions.

Makes the above eligibility the exclusive eligibility for Cemetery burial. States that a request for Cemetery burial made before the death of the individual may not be considered by the Secretary of the Army, the Secretary of Defense, or other responsible official. Directs the Secretary of the Army to maintain and make public a register of each individual buried in the Cemetery. Requires such register, for each individual buried on or after January 1, 1998, to include a brief description of the eligibility basis for such burial. Requires the Secretary of the Army to publish an updated pamphlet describing Cemetery burial eligibility.

(Sec. 303) Authorizes the cremated remains of the following individuals to be placed in the columbarium in the Cemetery: (1) all persons made eligible for burial under this title; (2) a person whose last period of active service ended honorably; and (3) the spouse, minor child, and, at the discretion of the Superintendent of the Cemetery, unmarried adult child of such veteran.

Subtitle B: World War II Memorial - World War II Memorial Completion Act - Directs the American Battle Monuments Commission to solicit and accept contributions for establishing the World War II memorial in the District of Columbia or its environs (authorized under prior law). Establishes in the Treasury a fund to hold and expend such contributions. Authorizes the Commission to: (1) borrow up to $65 million from the Treasury to ensure that memorial groundbreaking, construction, and dedication are completed on a timely basis; and (2) accept voluntary services in furtherance of fund-raising activities (authorizing reimbursement of volunteer incidental expenses).

Extends until December 31, 2005 (currently, May 25, 2000) the authority to construct the memorial.

(Sec. 313) Revises current Commission authority to receive State, local, and private amounts for establishing the memorial to: (1) authorize the Commission to solicit (instead of just receive) such contributions; and (2) require the deposit of such amounts in a separate account in the Treasury. Requires the Commission to establish written guidelines for the acceptance of funds and in-kind contributions.

(Sec. 314) Authorizes the Commission to adopt, obtain, use, register, and license trademarks, copyrights, and patents in connection with intellectual property and related items.

Title IV: United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims - Allows a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court) whose term expires in 2004 or 2005 and who completes such term or retires to continue to serve on the Court without reappointment. Requires such judge to notify the chief judge of the Court of the intent to so continue at least 30 days before the earlier of the expiration of such judge's term or the date on which the judge qualifies for retirement. Prohibits the total number of judges serving on the Court at any one time from exceeding seven. Allows such a judge to continue to serve temporarily until the earlier of: (1) 30 days after the Court chief judge certifies to the President and Congress that the caseload can be performed timely by judges who are senior to the judge electing to continue; or (2) the date on which the person appointed to succeed such continuing judge is qualified for the position. Outlines provisions concerning: (1) temporary service in other judge positions; (2) compensation for periods of temporary service; and (3) creditable service computation for retirement purposes.

(Sec. 402) Provides for a 13-year term for any Court judge who is appointed to a judge position that becomes vacant in 2004. Makes such judge eligible for retirement benefits after such 13-year (currently 15-year) period.

(Sec. 403) Authorizes a voluntary separation incentive payment of $25,000 for Court judges who: (1) meet the age and service requirements for retirement; (2) submit a notice of intent to retire; and (3) retire from the Court within 30 days after qualifying for retirement. Terminates such incentive payment authority for any judge retiring after December 31, 2002.