S. 4909 — Introduced in Senate

II 116th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 4909 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES November 18, 2020Mr. Tester (for himself and Mr. Moran) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs A BILL To amend title 38, United States Code, to prohibit the collection of a health care copayment by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs from a veteran who is a member of an Indian Tribe. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Native American Veteran Parity in Access to Care Today Act or the Native American Veteran PACT Act. 2. Prohibition on collection of a health care copayment by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs from a veteran who is a member of an Indian Tribe (a) In general Section 1730A of title 38, United States Code, is amended— (1) in the heading, by striking catastrophically disabled and inserting certain; (2) by inserting (a) Prohibition.— before Notwithstanding; (3) by striking a veteran who is catastrophically disabled, as defined by the Secretary, and inserting a covered veteran; and (4) by adding at the end the following new subsection: (b) Covered veteran defined In this section, the term covered veteran means a veteran who— (1) is catastrophically disabled, as defined by the Secretary; or (2) is an Indian or urban Indian (as those terms are defined in section 4 of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (25 U.S.C. 1603)). . (b) Clerical amendment The table of sections at the beginning of chapter 17 of such title is amended by striking the item relating to section 1730A and inserting the following new item: 1730A. Prohibition on collection of copayments from certain veterans. . (c) Effective date The amendments made by this section shall take effect on the date that is one year after the date of the enactment of this Act.