S.Amdt. 1658

SA 1658. Mr. McCAIN submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to
amendment SA 1463 proposed by Mr. McCain to the bill H.R. 1735, to
authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2016 for military activities
of the Department of Defense and for military construction, to
prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the end of subtitle B of title VII, add the following:

SEC. 721. ESTABLISHMENT OF STRATEGIC UNIFORM DRUG FORMULARY
FOR THE PROVISION OF HEALTH CARE SERVICES TO
MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES UNDERGOING
SEPARATION FROM THE ARMED FORCES.

(a) In General.--The Secretary of Defense and the Secretary
of Veterans Affairs shall jointly establish a process to make
available to individuals undergoing the transition from the
receipt of health care services through the Department of
Defense to the receipt of such services through the
Department of Veterans Affairs systemic pain and psychotropic
drugs that are critical to the Department of Defense and the
Department of Veterans Affairs for the appropriate and
effective provision of health care services to such
individuals.

[[Page S3798]]

(b) Strategic Uniform Formulary.--
(1) In general.--In carrying out subsection (a), the
Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs
shall jointly establish, and from time to time update, a
strategic, evidence-based, uniform formulary for the
Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs
that includes all appropriate systemic pain and psychotropic
drugs that the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs jointly determine are critical to the
Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs
for the appropriate and effective provision of health care
services to individuals described in such subsection.
(2) Inapplicability of certain provisions of law.--Section
1074g of title 10, United States Code, shall not apply to the
establishing and updating of the formulary required by
paragraph (1).
(c) Preservation of Authority.--Nothing in this section
shall be construed to prohibit the Secretary of Defense and
the Secretary of Veterans Affairs from each maintaining their
own formularies.
(d) Report.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense and the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall jointly submit to the
appropriate committees of Congress a report on the
establishment of the formulary under subsection (b).
(2) Appropriate committees of congress defined.--In this
subsection, the term ``appropriate committees of Congress''
means--
(A) the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on
Veterans' Affairs of the Senate; and
(B) the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on
Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives.
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