DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS MEDICALCARE RECEIPTS.

SEC. 8023. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS MEDICALCARE RECEIPTS. (a) Allocation of Receipts.—(1) Chapter 17 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by inserting after section 1729 the following new section: “§ 1729A. Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Care Collections Fund “(a) There is in the Treasury a fund to be known as the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Care Collections Fund. “(b) Amounts recovered or collected after June 30, 1997, under any of the following provisions of law shall be deposited in the fund: “(1) Section 1710(f) of this title. “(2) Section 1710(g) of this title. “(3) Section 1711 of this title. “(4) Section 1722A of this title. “(5) Section 1729 of this title. “(6) Public Law 87–693, popularly known as the ‘Federal Medical Care Recovery Act’ (42 U.S.C. 2651 et seq.), to the extent that a recovery or collection under that law is based on medical care or services furnished under this chapter. “(c)(1) Subject to the provisions of appropriations Acts, amounts in the fund shall be available, without fiscal year limitation, to the Secretary for the following purposes: “(A) Furnishing medical care and services under this chapter, to be available during any fiscal year for the same purposes and subject to the same limitations (other than with respect to the period of availability for obligation) as apply to amounts appropriated from the general fund of the Treasury for that fiscal year for medical care. “(B) Expenses of the Department for the identification, billing, auditing, and collection of amounts owed the United States by reason of medical care and services furnished under this chapter. “(2) Amounts available under paragraph (1) may not be used for any purpose other than a purpose set forth in subparagraph (A) or (B) of that paragraph. “(3)(A) If for fiscal year 1998 the Secretary determines that the total amount to be recovered under the provisions of law specified in subsection (b) will be less than the amount contained in the latest Congressional Budget Office baseline estimate (computed under section 257 of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit 111 STAT. 666Control Act of 1985) for the amount of such recoveries for fiscal year 1998 by at least $25,000,000, the Secretary shall promptly certify to the Secretary of the Treasury the amount of the shortfall (as estimated by the Secretary) that is in excess of $25,000,000. Upon receipt of such a certification, the Secretary of the Treasury shall, not later than 30 days after receiving the certification, deposit in the fund, from any unobligated amounts in the Treasury, an amount equal to the amount certified by the Secretary. “(B) If for fiscal year 1998 a deposit is made under subparagraph (A) and the Secretary subsequently determines that the actual amount recovered for that fiscal year under the provisions of law specified in subsection (b) is greater than the amount estimated by the Secretary that was used for purposes of the certification by the Secretary under subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall pay into the general fund of the Treasury, from amounts available for medical care, an amount equal to the difference between the amount actually recovered and the amount so estimated (but not in excess of the amount of the deposit under subparagraph (A) pursuant to such certification). “(C) If for fiscal year 1998 a deposit is made under subparagraph (A) and the Secretary subsequently determines that the actual amount recovered for that fiscal year under the provisions of law specified in subsection (b) is less than the amount estimated by the Secretary that was used for purposes of the certification by the Secretary under subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall promptly certify to the Secretary of the Treasury the amount of the shortfall. Upon receipt of such a certification, the Secretary of the Treasury shall, not later than 30 days after receiving the certification, deposit in the fund, from any unobligated amounts in the Treasury, an amount equal to the amount certified by the Secretary. “(d)(1) Of the total amount recovered or collected by the Department during a fiscal year under the provisions of law referred to in subsection (b) and made available from the fund, the Secretary shall make available to each designated health care region of the Department an amount that bears the same ratio to the total amount so made available as the amount recovered or collected by such region during that fiscal year under such provisions of law bears to such total amount recovered or collected during that fiscal year. The Secretary shall make available to each region the entirety of the amount specified to be made available to such region by the preceding sentence. “(2) In this subsection, the term ‘designated health care regions of the Department’ means the geographic areas designated by the Secretary for purposes of the management of, and allocation of resources for, health care services provided by the Department. “(e)(1) The Secretary shall submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and House of Representatives quarterly reports on the operation of this section for fiscal years 1998, 1999, and 2000 and for the first quarter of fiscal year 2001. Each such report shall specify the amount collected under each of the provisions specified in subsection (b) during the preceding quarter and the amount originally estimated to be collected under each such provision during such quarter. “(2) A report under paragraph (1) for a quarter shall be submitted not later than 45 days after the end of that quarter.111 STAT. 667 “(f) Amounts recovered or collected under the provisions of law referred to in subsection (b) shall be treated for the purposes of sections 251 and 252 of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 901, 902) as offsets to discretionary appropriations (rather than as offsets to direct spending) to the extent that such amounts are made available for expenditure in appropriations Acts for the purposes specified in subsection (c).”. (2) The table of sections at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 1729 the following new item: “1729A. Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Care Collections Fund.”. (b) Conforming Amendments.—Chapter 17 of such title is amended as follows: (1) Section 1710(f) is amended by striking out paragraph (4) and redesignating paragraph (5) as paragraph (4). (2) Section 1710(g) is amended by striking out paragraph (4). (3) Section 1722A(b) is amended by striking out “Department of Veterans Affairs Medical-Care Cost Recovery Fund” and inserting in lieu thereof “Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Care Collections Fund”. (4) Section 1729 is amended by striking out subsection (g). (c) Disposition of Funds in Medical-Care Cost Recovery Fund.—The amount of the unobligated balance remaining in the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical-Care Cost Recovery Fund (established pursuant to section 1729(g)(1) of title 38, United States Code) at the close of June 30, 1997, shall be deposited, not later than December 31, 1997, in the Treasury as miscellaneous receipts, and the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical-Care Cost Recovery Fund shall be terminated when the deposit is made. (d) Determination of Amounts Subject to Recovery.—Section 1729 of title 38, United States Code, is amended— (1) in subsection (a)(1), by striking out “the reasonable cost of” and inserting in lieu thereof “reasonable charges for”; and (2) in subsection (c)(2)— (A) by striking out “the reasonable cost of” in the first sentence of subparagraph (A) and in subparagraph (B) and inserting in lieu thereof “reasonable charges for”; and (B) by striking out “cost” in the second sentence of subparagraph (A) and inserting in lieu thereof “charges”. (e) Technical Amendment.—Paragraph (2) of section 712(b) of title 38, United States Code, is amended— (1) by striking out subparagraph (B); and (2) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as subparagraph (B). (f) Implementation.—Not later than January 1, 1999, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and House of Representatives a report note on the implementation of this section. The report shall describe the collections under each of the provisions specified in section 1729A(b) of title 38, United States Code, as added by subsection (a). Information on such collections shall be shown for each of the health service networks (known as Veterans Integrated Service Networks) and, to the extent practicable for each facility within 111 STAT. 668each such network. The Secretary shall include in the report an analysis of differences among the networks with respect to (A) the market in which the networks operates, (B) the effort expended to achieve collections, (C) the efficiency of such effort, and (D) any other relevant information. (g) Effective Date.—(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), this section and the amendments made by this section shall take effect on October 1, 1997. (2) The amendments made by subsection (d) shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.