,,ii  #aaith ,,congress  #ast ,session  
,s4 #bccc  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,july #ag1     
#bjbe ,mr4 ,welch 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 
permit supplementation of health records
 of deceased veterans1 and for other    
purposes4  #a4  ,short title  ,this ,act
 may be cited as the ,health ,records   
,enhancement ,act4  #b4                 
,supplementation of health records of   
deceased veterans  7a7  ,in general     
,not later than one year after the date 
of the enactment of this ,act1 the      
,secretary of ,defense and the          
,secretary of ,veterans ,affairs shall  
jointly take actions necessary to ensure
 that the health records of the         
,department of ,defense and the         
,department of ,veterans ,affairs may be
 updated with observed health conditions

 and other relevant health information  
of a deceased enrollee by--  7#a7 an    
individual designated by such deceased  
enrollee2 or  7#b7 if no such individual
 is designated1 an immediate family     
member of such deceased enrollee4  7b7  
,designation  ,the ,secretary of        
,defense and the ,secretary of ,veterans
 ,affairs shall jointly provide for a   
process by which an individual may make 
a designation for purposes of subsection
 7a77#a74  7c7  ,no modification of     
health information  ,any update under   
subsection 7a7 shall supplement         
information contained in the health     
records of a deceased enrollee and shall
 not modify information contained in    
such records4  7d7  ,definitions  ,in   
this section3 7#a7 ,immediate family    
member ,the term immediate family       
member1 with respect to a deceased      
enrollee1 means--  7,a7 the spouse1     
parent1 brother1 sister1 or adult child 
of the individual2 or  7,b7 an adult    
person to whom the individual stands in 

loco parentis4  7#b7 ,deceased enrollee 
,the term deceased enrollee means any   
individual who1 at the time of his or   
her death--  7,a7 was enrolled in the   
patient enrollment system of the        
,department of ,veterans ,affairs       
established and operated under section  
#agje7;a7 of title #ch1 ,united ,states 
,code2 or  7,b7 was entitled to care    
under the ,,tricare program1 as defined 
in section #ajgb of title #aj1 ,united  
,states ,code4