,,ii  #aacth ,,congress  #ast ,session  
,s4 #hge  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the
 ,,united ,,states  ,may #g1 #bjac ,mr4 
,casey introduced the following bill2   
which was read twice and referred to the
 ,committee on ,veterans' ,affairs  ,a  
,,bill  ,to amend title #ch1 ,united    
,states ,code1 to require the reporting 
of cases of infectious diseases at      
facilities of the ,veterans ,health     
,administration1 and for other purposes4
  #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be    
cited as the ,department of ,veterans   
,affairs ,disease ,reporting and        
,oversight ,act of #bjac4  #b4          
,requirement that ,veterans ,health     
,administration report cases of         
infectious diseases at facilities of the
 ,administration  7a7 ,in general       
,subchapter ,,ii of chapter #gc of title
 #ch1 ,united ,states ,code1 is amended 
by adding at the end the following new  
section3  #gccj;,b4 ,reporting of       
infectious diseases  7a7 ,reporting     
7#a7 ,except as provided in paragraph   

7#b71 not later than #bd hours after the
 director of a ,veterans ,integrated    
,service ,network confirms the presence 
of a notifiable infectious disease at a 
facility under the jurisdiction of the  
director1 the director shall submit     
notice of such presence to the          
following3  7,a7 ,the ,central ,office  
of the ,department4  7,b7 ,the ,director
 of the ,centers for ,disease ,control  
and ,prevention4  7,c7 ,the ,state in   
which the facility is located and if the
 ,state has an agency or department that
 handles matters relating to such       
notifiable infectious disease1 the head 
of such agency or department4  7,d7 ,the
 county in which the facility is located
 and if the county has an agency or     
department that handles matters relating
 to such notifiable infectious disease1 
the head of such agency or department4  
7,e7 ,for each individual who has       
contracted the notifiable infectious    
disease at the facility or is at risk of
 contracting such notifiable infectious 

disease--  7i7 the individual and the   
individual's next of kin2  7ii7 the     
individual's primary health care        
provider2 and  7iii7 the county in which
 the individual resides and if the      
county has an agency or department that 
handles matters relating to such        
notifiable infectious disease1 the head 
of such agency or department4  7,f7     
,each employee of the ,department who is
 employed at such facility4  7#b7 ,if   
the ,state in which a facility described
 in paragraph 7#a7 is located requires  
that a notifiable infectious disease    
confirmed at such facility be reported  
to the ,state more quickly than required
 under paragraph 7#a7 or requires that a
 suspected presence of a notifiable     
infectious disease at such facility be  
reported before waiting for confirmation
 of such presence1 the director         
concerned shall comply with such ,state 
requirement4  7#c7 ,not later than #bd  
hours after submitting a notice under   
paragraph 7#a71 the director concerned  

shall confirm that such notice is       
received4  7b7 ,notifiable infectious   
disease ,for purposes of this section1 a
 notifiable infectious disease is any   
infectious disease that is--  7#a7 on   
the list of nationally notifiable       
diseases published by the ,council of   
,state and ,territorial ,epidemiologists
 and the ,centers for ,disease ,control 
and ,prevention2 or  7#b7 covered by a  
provision of law of a ,state that       
requires the reporting of infectious    
diseases4  7c7 ,plan ,to prevent spread 
7#a7 ,not later than seven days after   
the director of a ,veterans ,integrated 
,service ,network confirms the presence 
of a notifiable infectious disease at a 
facility under the jurisdiction of such 
director1 the director shall develop and
 implement an action plan to manage and 
control the potential spread of the     
notifiable infectious disease4  7#b7    
,the plan developed and implemented     
under paragraph 7#a7 shall also provide 
details on the role of partnering       

,federal1 ,state1 and local government  
entities in the management and control  
of the potential spread of the          
notifiable infectious disease4  7d7     
,recordkeeping ,the director of each    
,veterans ,integrated ,service ,network 
shall keep records of each notice       
submitted under subsection 7a77#a7 for a
 period of not less than #aj years4  7e7
 ,annual reports by ,inspector ,general 
,not less frequently than once each     
year1 the ,inspector ,general of the    
,department shall submit to ,congress a 
report on the compliance of the         
directors of the ,veterans ,integrated  
,service ,networks with the requirements
 of this section4  7f7 ,enforcement and 
disciplinary action  7#a7 ,in any case  
in which the ,inspector ,general of the 
,department suspects that a director of 
a ,veterans ,integrated ,service        
,network has failed to comply with an   
applicable provision of this section1   
the ,inspector ,general shall conduct an
 investigation to determine whether such

 director failed to comply with an      
applicable provision of this section4   
7#b7 ,if the ,inspector ,general        
determines under paragraph 7#a7 that a  
director has failed to comply with a    
provision of this section1 the          
,secretary shall suspend such director  
for such period as the ,secretary       
considers appropriate under subchapter  
,i or subchapter ,,ii of chapter #ge of 
title #e1 as the case may be4  7#c7     
,paragraph 7#b7 shall not be construed  
to prevent the ,secretary from imposing1
 in addition to suspension under        
paragraph 7#b71 such other disciplinary 
action on the director as the ,secretary
 considers appropriate and for which the
 ,secretary is otherwise authorized4  4 
7b7 ,internal communication ,not later  
than #ahj days after the date of the    
enactment of this ,act1 the ,under      
,secretary for ,health of the ,veterans 
,health ,administration shall issue a   
directive to the ,pathology ,team1 the  
,infection ,prevention ,team1 and the   

,facilities ,management ,team of the    
,veterans ,health ,administration and   
such other groups within the            
,administration as the ,under ,secretary
 considers appropriate on the actions   
that should be taken in any case in     
which a notifiable infectious disease   
7as such term is used in section        
#gccj;,b of title #ch1 ,united ,states  
,code1 as added by subsection 7a77 is   
discovered in a facility of the         
,veterans ,health ,administration4  7c7 
,clerical amendment ,the table of       
sections at the beginning of chapter #gc
 of such title is amended by inserting  
after the item relating to section      
#gccj;,a the following new item3        
#gccj;,b4 ,reporting of infectious      
diseases4  4