I 119THCONGRESS 1 STSESSION H. R. 1644 To amend title 38, United States Code, to eliminate copayments by the Department of Veterans Affairs for medicines relating to preventive health services, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY27, 2025 Ms. U NDERWOOD(for herself, Mr. MOULTON, Mrs. HAYES, and Ms. NORTON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To amend title 38, United States Code, to eliminate copay- ments by the Department of Veterans Affairs for medi- cines relating to preventive health services, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Copay Fairness for 4 Veterans Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Mar 14, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1644.IH H1644 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1644 IH SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENT TO PREVENTIVE HEALTH SERVICES 1 FURNISHED BY DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 2 AFFAIRS. 3 (a) E LIMINATION OFMEDICATIONCOPAYMENTS.— 4 Section 1722A(a)(3) of title 38, United States Code, is 5 amended— 6 (1) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘or’’; 7 (2) in subparagraph (D), by striking the period 8 at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 9 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub-10 paragraph: 11 ‘‘(E) to medication that is or is part of a pre-12 ventive health service.’’. 13 (b) E LIMINATION OFHOSPITALCARE ANDMEDICAL 14 S ERVICESCOPAYMENTS.—Section 1710 of such title is 15 amended— 16 (1) in subsection (f)— 17 (A) by redesignating paragraph (5) as 18 paragraph (6); and 19 (B) by inserting after paragraph (4) the 20 following new paragraph (5): 21 ‘‘(5) A veteran shall not be liable to the United States 22 under this subsection for any amounts for preventive 23 health services.’’; and 24 (2) in subsection (g)(3), by adding at the end 25 the following new subparagraph: 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Mar 14, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1644.IH H1644 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1644 IH ‘‘(C) Preventive health services.’’. 1 (c) D EFINITION.—Section 1701(9) of such title is 2 amended— 3 (1) in subparagraph (K), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 4 and inserting a semicolon; 5 (2) by redesignating subparagraph (L) as sub-6 paragraph (O); and 7 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (K) the fol-8 lowing new subparagraphs: 9 ‘‘(L) evidence-based items or services that have 10 in effect a rating of ‘A’ or ‘B’ in the current rec-11 ommendations of the United States Preventive Serv-12 ices Task Force; 13 ‘‘(M) immunizations that have in effect a rec-14 ommendation from the Advisory Committee on Im-15 munization Practices of the Centers for Disease 16 Control and Prevention with respect to the indi-17 vidual involved; 18 ‘‘(N) with respect to services for women— 19 ‘‘(i) the preventive care, screenings, and 20 contraceptives provided for in the Health Re-21 sources and Services Administration Preventive 22 Services Guidelines in effect as of December 30, 23 2022; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Mar 14, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1644.IH H1644 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1644 IH ‘‘(ii) any contraceptive approved, granted, 1 or cleared by the Food and Drug Administra-2 tion, any related contraceptive care, and any re-3 lated services; and’’. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Mar 14, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1644.IH H1644 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS