,,ii  #aaith ,,congress  #b;d ,session  
,s4 #ecfa  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,august #g1    
#bjbf,ms4 ,rosen 7for herself and ,mr4  
,sheehy7 introduced the following bill2 
which was read twice and referred to the
 ,committee on ,veterans' ,affairs  ,a  
,,bill  ,to improve the use and         
management of mobile medical units by   
the ,department of ,veterans ,affairs1  
and for other purposes4  #a4 ,short     
title ,this ,act may be cited as the    
,mobile ,medical ,unit ,rural ,expansion
 ,act of #bjbf or the ,,mmu ,rural      
,expansion ,act of #bjbf4  #b4          
,designation of existing office to serve
 as program owner of ,mobile ,medical   
,unit ,program of ,department of        
,veterans ,affairs  7a7 ,in general ,the
 ,secretary of ,veterans ,affairs shall 
designate the head of an existing office
 of the ,department of ,veterans        
,affairs to serve as the program owner  
of the ,mobile ,medical ,unit ,program  
of the ,department4  7b7                

,responsibilities ,the head of the      
office designated under subsection 7a7  
shall be responsible for-- 7#a7         
overseeing deployments of mobile medical
 units of the ,department2  7#b7        
coordinating with leadership of medical 
centers of the ,department with respect 
to such units2  7#c7 managing data      
collection with respect to such units2  
7#d7 identifying the funding and        
procurement sources that exist for such 
units and that are available to help    
deploy such units to medical centers of 
the ,department2 and  7#e7 integrating  
such units1 as appropriate1 into broader
 access-to-care strategies of the       
,veterans ,health ,administration4  #c4 
,nationwide inventory and capability    
assessment of mobile medical units of   
,department of ,veterans ,affairs  7a7  
,in general ,the ,secretary of ,veterans
 ,affairs shall conduct a nationwide    
inventory and capability assessment with
 respect to mobile medical units of the 
,department of ,veterans ,affairs4  7b7 

,elements ,the assessment required under
 subsection 7a7 shall include an        
assessment of the following3 7#a7 ,the  
total number of mobile medical units of 
the ,department1 including the different
 types of mobile medical unit models    
used by the ,department4  7#b7 ,the age1
 condition1 and readiness of such units 
and what sort of maintenance such units 
need4  7#c7 ,where such units are       
currently located and the accessibility 
of mobile medical unit deployment sites4
  7#d7 ,how often each such unit is used
 and for what services each such unit is
 used4  7#e7 ,patient-level data with   
respect to each such unit4  7#f7        
,accessibility and lift capability      
across the mobile medical unit fleet of 
the ,department1 including an assessment
 of the wheelchair accessibility of     
deployment locations for each such unit4
  7#g7 ,existing unmet needs or access  
barriers within the ,department that    
such units could fill1 when clinically  
and operationally appropriate4  #d4     

,assessment of feasibility and          
advisability of requiring annual        
deployment of mobile medical units to   
certain areas  7a7 ,in general ,not     
later than #ahj days after the date of  
the enactment of this ,act1 the         
,secretary of ,veterans ,affairs shall  
conduct an assessment to determine the  
feasibility and advisability of         
requiring certain medical centers of the
 ,department of ,veterans ,affairs to   
deploy mobile medical units to rural or 
underserved areas at least once per year
 to improve access to medical services  
by veterans and other individuals       
eligible for health care under the laws 
administered by the ,secretary4  7b7    
,elements ,the assessment required by   
subsection 7a7 shall-- 7#a7 incorporate 
findings from the nationwide inventory  
and capability assessment required by   
section #c2  7#b7 include proposed      
criteria the ,secretary could use to    
determine which medical centers of the  
,department should be subject to the    

requirement described in subsection 7a72
  7#c7 include proposed rural or        
underserved areas where mobile medical  
units could be required to be deployed  
at least once per year to improve access
 to medical services by veterans and    
other individuals2  7#d7 include a      
proposed list of services that mobile   
medical units could provide safely and  
appropriately in rural or underserved   
areas2  7#e7 include an estimate of the 
number of veterans or other individuals 
who could access medical services       
through a mobile medical unit deployed  
to a rural or underserved area2 and     
7#f7 include an assessment of the ideal 
frequency of such deployments in        
consideration of-- 7,a7 the ability of  
veterans and other individuals in such  
areas to access services identified     
under paragraph 7#d72  7,b7 the cost to 
the ,department to deploy mobile medical
 units to such areas2 and  7,c7 such    
other factors as the ,secretary         
considers appropriate4  7c7 ,report ,not

 later than #ij days after completing   
the assessment required by subsection   
7a71 the ,secretary shall submit the    
assessment to the ,committee on         
,veterans' ,affairs of the ,senate and  
the ,committee on ,veterans' ,affairs of
 the ,house of ,representatives4  #e4   
,report  7a7 ,in general ,not later than
 #ahj days after the date of the        
enactment of this ,act1 the ,secretary  
of ,veterans ,affairs shall submit to   
the ,committee on ,veterans' ,affairs of
 the ,senate and the ,committee on      
,veterans' ,affairs of the ,house of    
,representatives a report-- 7#a7        
identifying gaps and opportunities to   
expand the appropriate use by the       
,department of ,veterans ,affairs of    
mobile medical units in rural or        
underserved areas1 including by         
identifying the gaps between the        
capabilities of such units and the needs
 of veterans in rural areas2  7#b7      
identifying areas that medical centers  
of the ,department serve with high rural

 veteran populations or that are near   
high rural veteran populations2  7#c7   
identifying staffing barriers1 clinical 
support and resources1 funding barriers1
 accessibility barriers1 information    
technology1 and training barriers to    
improving the appropriate use of mobile 
medical units2  7#d7 identifying ways   
the ,department can engage with local   
veterans service organizations to       
further identify suitable and accessible
 locations for mobile medical unit      
deployments2  7#e7 identifying how the  
head of the office designated under     
section #b7;a7 can focus on rectifying  
the barriers identified under paragraph 
7#c72  7#f7 including the findings of   
the ,secretary from the assessment      
conducted under section #c2  7#g7       
assessing the findings of the ,secretary
 in response to the report of the       
,comptroller ,general of the ,united    
,states published on ,december #ad1     
#bjbc1 and titled ,,va ,health ,care3   
,actions ,needed to ,improve            

,information ,reported on ,mobile       
,medical ,units2  7#h7 describing any   
actions taken by the ,secretary in      
response to the ,comptroller ,general   
report specified under paragraph 7#g72  
and  7#i7 recommending any legislative  
or administrative action necessary to   
improve the use of mobile medical units 
by the ,department4  7b7 ,veterans      
service organization defined ,in this   
section1 the term veterans service      
organization means an organization      
recognized by the ,secretary for the    
representation of veterans under section
 #eijb of title #ch1 ,united ,states    
,code4