,i  #aacth ,,congress  #ast ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #fce  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of   
,,representatives  ,february #ac1 #bjac 
,mr4 ,pearce 7for himself1 ,mr4 ,tipton1
 ,mr4 ,young of ,alaska1 ,mr4 ,forbes1  
,mr4 ,harris1 ,mr4 ,hall1 ,mr4          
,marchant1 ,mr4 ,wilson of ,south       
,carolina1 ,mr4 ,flores1 ,mr4 ,gohmert1 
,mr4 ,westmoreland1 ,mr4 ,conaway1 ,mr4 
,rahall1 ,mr4 ,jones1 ,mr4 ,gosar1 and  
,mr4 ,posey7 introduced the following   
bill2 which was referred to the         
,committee on ,veterans' ,affairs  ,a   
,,bill  ,to amend title #ch1 ,united    
,states ,code1 to require the ,secretary
 of ,veterans ,affairs to enter into    
contracts with community health care    
providers to improve access to health   
care for veterans in highly rural areas1
 and for other purposes4  #a4 ,short    
title ,this ,act may be cited as the    
,help ,establish ,access to ,local      
,timely ,healthcare for ,your ,vets ,act
 of #bjac or the ,,healthy ,vets ,act of
 #bjac4  #b4 ,enhanced contract care    

authority for health care needs of      
veterans in highly rural areas  7a7     
,rural ,veterans ,section #agjc of title
 #ch1 ,united ,states ,code1 is amended 
by adding at the end the following new  
subsection3  7e7 7#a7 ,in the case of a 
veteran for whom ,department facilities 
are geographically inaccessible 7as     
provided in paragraph 7#b771 the        
,secretary shall use the contract       
authority provided in subsection 7a7 for
 the following care3  7,a7 ,primary     
care4  7,b7 ,acute or chronic symptom   
management4  7,c7 ,nontherapeutic       
medical services4  7,d7 ,other medical  
services as determined appropriate by   
the director of the appropriate         
geographic service region of the        
,department1 after consultation with the
 ,department physician responsible for  
primary care of the veteran4  7#b7      
,department facilities shall be deemed  
to be geographically inaccessible for   
purposes of paragraph 7#a7 in the case  
of a veteran whose residence meets any  

of the following criteria3  7,a7 ,the   
residence is in a county with a         
population density of less than #g4j    
people per square mile and is more than 
#ge miles from the nearest ,department  
health care facility4  7,b7 ,the        
residence is in a county with a         
population density of more than #g4j and
 less than #h4j people per square mile  
and is more than #ajj miles from the    
nearest ,department health care         
facility4  7,c7 ,the residence is in a  
county with a population density of more
 than #h4j and less than #i4j people per
 square mile and is more than #abe miles
 from the nearest ,department health    
care facility4  7,d7 ,the residence is  
more than #aej miles from the nearest   
,department health care facility4  7#c7 
,the ,secretary may waive the           
requirement in paragraph 7#a7 in the    
case of a particular veteran if the     
,secretary demonstrates on an individual
 basis through a cost-benefit analysis  
that the costs to the ,department of    

providing care to that veteran pursuant 
to paragraph 7#a7 significantly outweigh
 the benefits of localized health care  
for the individual veteran4  7#d7 ,for  
purposes of paragraph 7#b71 a distance  
in miles shall be determined on the     
basis of the most convenient highway    
route that is available to the veteran1 
as determined by the ,secretary4  4  7b7
 ,effective ,date ,subsection 7e7 of    
section #agjc of title #ch1 ,united     
,states ,code1 as added by subsection   
7a71 shall take effect on the date that 
is #abj days after the date of the      
enactment of this ,act4