(a) Required Coordination and Sharing of Health Care Resources.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Secretary of Defense shall enter into agreements and contracts for the mutually beneficial coordination, use, or exchange of use of the health care resources of the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense with the goal of improving the access to, and quality and cost effectiveness of, the health care provided by the Veterans Health Administration and the Military Health System to the beneficiaries of both Departments.

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(b) Joint Requirements for Secretaries of Veterans Affairs and Defense.—To facilitate the mutually beneficial coordination, use, or exchange of use of the health care resources of the two Departments, the two Secretaries shall carry out the following functions:

(1) Develop and publish a joint strategic vision statement and a joint strategic plan to shape, focus, and prioritize the coordination and sharing efforts among appropriate elements of the two Departments and incorporate the goals and requirements of the joint sharing plan into the strategic plan of each Department under section 306 of title 5 and the performance plan of each Department under section 1115 of title 31.

(2) Jointly fund the Department of Veterans Affairs-Department of Defense Joint Executive Committee under section 320 of this title.

(3) Continue to facilitate and improve sharing between individual Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense health care facilities, but giving priority of effort to initiatives (A) that improve sharing and coordination of health resources at the intraregional and nationwide levels, and (B) that improve the ability of both Departments to provide coordinated health care.

(4) Establish a joint incentive program under subsection (d).

[(c) Repealed. Pub. L. 108-136, div. A, title V, §583(b)(1), Nov. 24, 2003, 117 Stat. 1491.]

(d) Joint Incentives Program.—(1) Pursuant to subsection (b)(4), the two Secretaries shall carry out a program to identify, provide incentives to, implement, fund, and evaluate creative coordination and sharing initiatives at the facility, intraregional, and nationwide levels. The program shall be administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs-Department of Defense Joint Executive Committee, under procedures jointly prescribed by the two Secretaries.

(2) To facilitate the incentive program, there is established in the Treasury a fund to be known as the “DOD-VA Health Care Sharing Incentive Fund”. Each Secretary shall annually contribute to the fund a minimum of $15,000,000 from the funds appropriated to that Secretary’s Department. Such funds shall remain available until expended and shall be available for any purpose authorized by this section.

(3) The program under this subsection shall terminate on September 30, 2026.

(e) Guidelines and Policies for Implementation of Coordination and Sharing Recommendations, Contracts, and Agreements.—(1) To implement the recommendations made by the Department of Veterans Affairs-Department of Defense Joint Executive Committee with respect to health care resources, as well as to carry out other health care contracts and agreements for coordination and sharing initiatives as they consider appropriate, the two Secretaries shall jointly issue guidelines and policy directives. Such guidelines and policies shall provide for coordination and sharing that—

(A) is consistent with the health care responsibilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs under this title and with the health care responsibilities of the Department of Defense under chapter 55 of title 10;

(B) will not adversely affect the range of services, the quality of care, or the established priorities for care provided by either Department; and

(C) will not reduce capacities in certain specialized programs of the Department of Veterans Affairs that the Secretary is required to maintain in accordance with section 1706(b) of this title.

(2) To facilitate the sharing and coordination of health care services between the two Departments, the two Secretaries shall jointly develop and implement guidelines for a standardized, uniform payment and reimbursement schedule for those services. Such schedule shall be revised periodically as necessary. The two Secretaries may on a case-by-case basis waive elements of the schedule if they jointly agree that such a waiver is in the best interests of both Departments.

(3)(A) The guidelines established under paragraph (1) shall authorize the heads of individual Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs medical facilities and service regions to enter into health care resources coordination and sharing agreements.

(B) Under any such agreement, an individual who is a primary beneficiary of one Department may be provided health care, as provided in the agreement, at a facility or in the service region of the other Department that is a party to the sharing agreement.

(C) Each such agreement shall identify the health care resources to be shared.

(D) Each such agreement shall provide, and shall specify procedures designed to ensure, that the availability of direct health care to individuals who are not primary beneficiaries of the providing Department is (i) on a referral basis from the facility or service region of the other Department, and (ii) does not (as determined by the head of the providing facility or region) adversely affect the range of services, the quality of care, or the established priorities for care provided to the primary beneficiaries of the providing Department.

(E) Each such agreement shall provide that a providing Department or service region shall be reimbursed for the cost of the health care resources provided under the agreement and that the rate of such reimbursement shall be as determined in accordance with paragraph (2).

(F) Each proposal for an agreement under this paragraph shall be effective (i) on the 46th day after the receipt of such proposal by the Committee, unless earlier disapproved, or (ii) if earlier approved by the Committee, on the date of such approval.

(G) Any funds received through such a uniform payment and reimbursement schedule shall be credited to funds that have been allotted to the facility of either Department that provided the care or services, or is due the funds from, any such agreement.

(f) Annual Joint Report.—(1) At the time the President’s budget is transmitted to Congress in any year pursuant to section 1105 of title 31, the two Secretaries shall submit to Congress a joint report on health care coordination and sharing activities under this section during the fiscal year that ended during the previous calendar year.

(2) Each report under this section shall include the following:

(A) The guidelines prescribed under subsection (e) (and any revision of such guidelines).

(B) The assessment of further opportunities identified by the Department of Veterans Affairs-Department of Defense Joint Executive Committee under subsection (d)(3) of section 320 of this title for the sharing of health-care resources between the two Departments.

(C) Any recommendation made by that committee under subsection (c)(2) of that section during that fiscal year.

(D) A review of the sharing agreements entered into under subsection (e) and a summary of activities under such agreements during such fiscal year and a description of the results of such agreements in improving access to, and the quality and cost effectiveness of, the health care provided by the Veterans Health Administration and the Military Health System to the beneficiaries of both Departments.

(E) A summary of other planning and activities involving either Department in connection with promoting the coordination and sharing of Federal health-care resources during the preceding fiscal year.

(F) Such recommendations for legislation as the two Secretaries consider appropriate to facilitate the sharing of health-care resources between the two Departments.

(3) In addition to the matters specified in paragraph (2), the two Secretaries shall include in the annual report under this subsection an overall status report of the progress of health resources sharing between the two Departments as a consequence of subtitle C of title VII of the Bob Stump National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2003 (Public Law 107-314) and of other sharing initiatives taken during the period covered by the report. Such status report shall indicate the status of such sharing and shall include appropriate data as well as analyses of that data. The annual report shall include the following:

(A) Enumerations and explanations of major policy decisions reached by the two Secretaries during the period covered by the report period with respect to sharing between the two Departments.

(B) A description of progress made in new ventures or particular areas of sharing and coordination that would be of policy interest to Congress consistent with the intent of such subtitle.

(C) A description of enhancements of access to care of beneficiaries of both Departments that came about as a result of new sharing approaches brought about by such subtitle.

(D) A description of proposals for which funds are provided through the joint incentives program under subsection (d), together with a description of their results or status at the time of the report, including access improvements, savings, and quality-of-care enhancements they brought about, and a description of any additional use of funds made available under subsection (d).

(4) In addition to the matters specified in paragraphs (2) and (3), the two Secretaries shall include in the annual report under this subsection for each year through 2008 the following:

(A) A description of the measures taken, or planned to be taken, to implement the health resources sharing project under section 722 of the Bob Stump National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2003 (Public Law 107-314) and any cost savings anticipated, or cost sharing achieved, at facilities participating in the project, including information on improvements in access to care, quality, and timeliness, as well as impediments encountered and legislative recommendations to ameliorate such impediments.

(B) A description of the use of the waiver authority provided by section 722(d)(1) of the Bob Stump National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2003 (Public Law 107-314), including—

(i) a statement of the numbers and types of requests for waivers under that section of administrative policies that have been made during the period covered by the report and, for each such request, an explanation of the content of each request, the intended purpose or result of the requested waiver, and the disposition of each request; and

(ii) descriptions of any new administrative policies that enhance the success of the project.

(5) In addition to the matters specified in paragraphs (2), (3), and (4), the two Secretaries shall include in the annual report under this subsection for each year through 2009 a report on the pilot program for graduate medical education under section 725 of the Bob Stump National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2003 (Public Law 107-314), including activities under the program during the preceding year and each Secretary’s assessment of the efficacy of providing education and training under that program.

(g) Definitions.—For the purposes of this section:

(1) The term “beneficiary” means a person who is a primary beneficiary of the Department of Veterans Affairs or of the Department of Defense.

(2) The term “direct health care” means health care provided to a beneficiary in a medical facility operated by the Department of Veterans Affairs or the Department of Defense.

(3) The term “head of a medical facility” (A) with respect to a medical facility of the Department of Veterans Affairs, means the director of the facility, and (B) with respect to a medical facility of the Department of Defense, means the medical or dental officer in charge or the contract surgeon in charge.

(4) The term “health-care resource” includes hospital care, medical services, and rehabilitative services, as those terms are defined in paragraphs (5), (6), and (8), respectively, of section 1701 of this title, services under sections 1782 and 1783 of this title, any other health-care service, and any health-care support or administrative resource.

(5) The term “primary beneficiary” (A) with respect to the Department means a person who is eligible under this title (other than under section 1782, 1783, or 1784 or subsection (d) of this section) or any other provision of law for care or services in Department medical facilities, and (B) with respect to the Department of Defense, means a member or former member of the Armed Forces who is eligible for care under section 1074 of title 10.

(6) The term “providing Department” means the Department of Veterans Affairs, in the case of care or services furnished by a facility of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Department of Defense, in the case of care or services furnished by a facility of the Department of Defense.

(7) The term “service region” means a geographic service area of the Veterans Health Administration, in the case of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and a service region, in the case of the Department of Defense.