,i  #aafth ,,congress  #ast ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #bihb  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,may #bc1 #bjai,mr4  
,cunningham 7for himself and ,mrs4      
,murphy7 introduced the following bill2 
which was referred to the ,committee on 
,veterans' ,affairs  ,a ,,bill  ,to     
direct the ,secretary of ,veterans      
,affairs to conduct a study of the      
barriers for women veterans to health   
care from the ,department of ,veterans  
,affairs4  #a4 ,short title ,this ,act  
may be cited as the ,women ,veterans    
,health ,care ,accountability ,act4  #b4
 ,study of barriers for women veterans  
to health care from the ,department of  
,veterans ,affairs  7a7 ,study required 
,the ,secretary of ,veterans ,affairs   
shall conduct a comprehensive study of  
the barriers to the provision of        
comprehensive health care by the        
,department of ,veterans ,affairs       
encountered by women who are veterans4  
,in conducting the study1 the ,secretary
 shall--  7#a7 survey women veterans who

 seek or receive hospital care or       
medical services provided by the        
,department of ,veterans ,affairs as    
well as women veterans who do not seek  
or receive such care or services2  7#b7 
administer the survey to a              
representative sample of women veterans 
from each ,veterans ,integrated ,service
 ,network2 and  7#c7 ensure that the    
sample of women veterans surveyed is of 
sufficient size for the study results to
 be statistically significant and is a  
larger sample than that of the study    
referred to in subsection 7b77#a74  7b7 
,use of previous studies ,in conducting 
the study required by subsection 7a71   
the ,secretary shall build on the work  
of the studies of the ,department of    
,veterans ,affairs titled--  7#a7       
,national ,survey of ,women ,veterans in
 ,fiscal ,year #bjjg-bjjh2 and  7#b7    
,study of ,barriers for ,women ,veterans
 to ,,va ,health ,care #bjae4  7c7      
,elements of study ,in conducting the   
study required by subsection 7a71 the   

,secretary shall conduct research on the
 effects of the following on the women  
veterans surveyed in the study3  7#a7   
,the perceived stigma associated with   
seeking mental health care services4    
7#b7 ,the effect of driving distance or 
availability of other forms of          
transportation to the nearest medical   
facility on access to care4  7#c7 ,the  
availability of child care4  7#d7 ,the  
acceptability of integrated primary     
care1 women's health clinics1 or both4  
7#e7 ,the comprehension of eligibility  
requirements for1 and the scope of      
services available under1 hospital care 
and medical services4  7#f7 ,the        
perception of personal safety and       
comfort in inpatient1 outpatient1 and   
behavioral health facilities4  7#g7 ,the
 gender sensitivity of health care      
providers and staff to issues that      
particularly affect women4  7#h7 ,the   
effectiveness of outreach for health    
care services available to women        
veterans4  7#i7 ,the location and       

operating hours of health care          
facilities that provide services to     
women veterans4  7#aj7 ,such other      
significant barriers as the ,secretary  
considers appropriate4  7d7 ,discharge  
by contract ,the ,secretary shall enter 
into a contract with a qualified        
independent entity or organization to   
carry out the study and research        
required under this section4  7e7       
,mandatory review of data by certain    
department divisions  7#a7 ,in general  
,the ,secretary shall ensure that the   
head of each division of the ,department
 of ,veterans ,affairs specified in     
paragraph 7#b7 reviews the results of   
the study conducted under this section4 
,the head of each such division shall   
submit findings with respect to the     
study to the ,under ,secretary for      
responsibilities relating to health care
 services for women veterans4  7#b7     
,specified divisions ,the divisions of  
the ,department of ,veterans ,affairs   
specified in this paragraph are the     

following3 7,a7 ,the ,center for ,women 
,veterans established under section #cah
 of title #ch1 ,united ,states ,code4   
7,b7 ,the ,advisory ,committee on ,women
 ,veterans established under section    
#edb of such title4  7f7 ,report ,not   
later than #cj months after the date of 
the enactment of this ,act1 the         
,secretary shall submit to ,congress a  
report on the study required under this 
section4 ,the report shall include      
recommendations for such administrative 
and legislative action as the ,secretary
 considers appropriate4 ,the report     
shall also include the findings of the  
head of each division of the ,department
 specified under subsection 7e77#b7 and 
of the ,under ,secretary for ,health4