II
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION S. 1134
To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the Office of Patient
Advocacy of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
MARCH26, 2025
Mr. C
RAMER(for himself and Ms. ROSEN) 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 improve the
Office of Patient Advocacy of the Department of Vet-
erans Affairs.
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 ‘‘Strengthening VA Pa-4
tient Advocacy for Rural Veterans Act of 2025’’. 5
SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENT OF OFFICE OF PATIENT ADVOCACY 6
OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 7
Section 7309A of title 38, United States Code, is 8
amended— 9
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•S 1134 IS
(1) by redesignating subsection (f) as sub-1
section (i); and 2
(2) by inserting after subsection (e) the fol-3
lowing new subsections: 4
‘‘(f) C
OORDINATION OFCARE INRURAL ANDHIGH-5
LYRURALAREAS.—(1) The director of a medical center 6
of the Department shall designate not fewer than one pa-7
tient advocate to serve as the coordinator for veterans in 8
rural and highly-rural areas served by that medical center 9
who are receiving care through the broader network of 10
care furnished by the Department through community- 11
based outpatient clinics or the community care network. 12
‘‘(2) An individual designated under paragraph (1) 13
shall carry out the functions of the patient advocate posi-14
tion specific to supporting veterans in rural and highly- 15
rural areas receiving care at locations outside of a medical 16
center of the Department. 17
‘‘(3) To the maximum extent practicable, the director 18
of a medical center shall designate existing staff of the 19
medical center to carry out paragraph (1). 20
‘‘(g) I
NCLUSION OFMEDICALCENTERDIRECTORS IN 21
C
HAIN OFREPORTING.—The Director shall ensure that 22
a patient advocate at a medical center of the Department 23
reports to the director of that medical center at some point 24
along the reporting line for the patient advocate. 25
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•S 1134 IS
‘‘(h) ANNUALREPORT ONINFORMATION INPATIENT 1
A
DVOCATETRACKINGSYSTEM.—(1) Not less frequently 2
than annually, the Secretary shall submit to the Com-3
mittee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate, the Committee 4
on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives, and 5
the Director of each Veterans Integrated Service Network 6
a report outlining information generated through the Pa-7
tient Advocate Tracking System, or successor system. 8
‘‘(2) Each report required under paragraph (1) shall 9
include de-identified data from the Patient Advocate 10
Tracking System, or successor system, regarding— 11
‘‘(A) common issues reported; 12
‘‘(B) resolution times for such issues; 13
‘‘(C) resolution times for requests for informa-14
tion; and 15
‘‘(D) compliments or complaints received under 16
such system.’’. 17
Æ
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