Bill > S1604

This bill, the Veterans Health Care Eligibility Expansion and Enhancement Act of 2013, aims to broaden and improve healthcare access for veterans through the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Key provisions include changing the language in existing law from "may" to "shall" regarding the provision of care to certain veterans, signifying a mandatory rather than discretionary obligation for the VA. It also mandates the enrollment of specific groups of veterans into the VA's patient enrollment system by December 31, 2014, including those with zero-percent disabling non-compensable service-connected disabilities and those without service-connected disabilities, provided they are not otherwise eligible and do not have access to health insurance outside of a health exchange established by the Affordable Care Act. Furthermore, the bill extends the eligibility period for healthcare for combat veterans during certain periods of hostilities and war, and it relocates and restates a limitation on certain VA healthcare requirements, making them contingent on appropriations. Finally, it modifies how eligibility for low-income family treatment within the VA's patient enrollment system is determined by standardizing geographic areas to single states and aligning income thresholds with state-wide highest county thresholds, and it directs the VA to use a capitation-based resource allocation model for contracting healthcare services, prioritizing Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and Community Health Centers (CHCs), and incorporating standardized best practices into these contracts.