,,ii  #aadth ,,congress  #ast ,session  
,s4 #agba  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,july #h1      
#bjae,mr4 ,blumenthal 7for himself and  
,mr4 ,mc,cain7 introduced the following 
bill2 which was read twice and referred 
to the ,committee on ,veterans' ,affairs
  ,a ,,bill  ,to require the ,secretary 
of ,defense and the ,secretary of       
,veterans ,affairs to establish a joint 
uniform formulary with respect to       
systemic pain and psychotropic drugs    
that are critical for the transition of 
an individual from receiving health care
 services furnished by the ,secretary of
 ,defense to health care services       
furnished by the ,secretary of ,veterans
 ,affairs1 and for other purposes4  #a4 
,short title ,this ,act may be cited as 
the ,joint ,formularies for ,veterans   
,act of #bjae4  #b4 ,establishment of   
strategic uniform drug formulary for the
 provision of health care services to   
members of the ,armed ,forces undergoing
 separation from the ,armed ,forces  7a7

 ,in general ,the ,secretary of ,defense
 and the ,secretary of ,veterans        
,affairs shall jointly establish a      
process to make available to individuals
 undergoing the transition from the     
receipt of health care services through 
the ,department of ,defense to the      
receipt of such services through the    
,department of ,veterans ,affairs       
systemic pain and psychotropic drugs    
that are critical to the ,department of 
,defense and the ,department of         
,veterans ,affairs for the appropriate  
and effective provision of health care  
services to such individuals4  7b7      
,strategic uniform formulary  7#a7 ,in  
general ,in carrying out subsection 7a71
 the ,secretary of ,defense and the     
,secretary of ,veterans ,affairs shall  
jointly establish1 and from time to time
 update1 a strategic1 evidence-based1   
uniform formulary for the ,department of
 ,defense and the ,department of        
,veterans ,affairs that includes all    
appropriate systemic pain and           

psychotropic drugs that the ,secretary  
of ,defense and the ,secretary of       
,veterans ,affairs jointly determine are
 critical to the ,department of ,defense
 and the ,department of ,veterans       
,affairs for the appropriate and        
effective provision of health care      
services to individuals described in    
such subsection4  7#b7 ,inapplicability 
of certain provisions of law ,section   
#ajgd;g of title #aj1 ,united ,states   
,code1 shall not apply to the           
establishing and updating of the        
formulary required by paragraph 7#a74   
7c7 ,preservation of authority ,nothing 
in this section shall be construed to   
prohibit the ,secretary of ,defense and 
the ,secretary of ,veterans ,affairs    
from each maintaining their own         
formularies4  7d7 ,report  7#a7 ,in     
general ,not later than #ahj days after 
the date of the enactment of this ,act1 
the ,secretary of ,defense and the      
,secretary of ,veterans ,affairs shall  
jointly submit to the appropriate       

committees of ,congress a report on the 
establishment of the formulary under    
subsection 7b74  7#b7 ,appropriate      
committees of ,congress defined ,in this
 subsection1 the term appropriate       
committees of ,congress means-- 7,a7 the
 ,committee on ,armed ,services and the 
,committee on ,veterans' ,affairs of the
 ,senate2 and  7,b7 the ,committee on   
,armed ,services and the ,committee on  
,veterans' ,affairs of the ,house of    
,representatives4