To assist rural veterans.

1. Adds Sec. 222. (a) In conducting advanced planning activities under this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall reevaluate Veterans Health Administration Handbook 1006.1 and other guidance and procedures related to planning, activating, staffing, and maintaining community-based outpatient clinics on page 93, between lines 20 and 21

   Adds a sectionPrinted page

   Inserted: Sec. 222. (a) In conducting advanced planning activities under this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall reevaluate Veterans Health Administration Handbook 1006.1 and other guidance and procedures related to planning, activating, staffing, and maintaining community-based outpatient clinics.

   Inserted: (b) In conducting such planning, the Secretary shall--

   Inserted: (1) revise as appropriate existing policies to make them less disadvantageous to rural veterans; and

   Inserted: (2) reexamine criteria used in planning, activating, staffing, and maintaining such clinics, including geographic access, number of Priority 1-6 veterans, market penetration, cost effectiveness, and distance to parent facilities, to determine whether such criteria are weighted in a manner that negatively affects rural veterans.

   Original wording

   On page 93, between lines 20 and 21, insert the following:

Read automatically from the Congressional Record. Check the original before relying on it.

As printed