EFFECT OF CLOSURE OF FORT LYON DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS MEDICAL CENTER ON ADMINISTRATION OF HEALTH CARE FOR VETERANS.

SEC. 247. EFFECT OF CLOSURE OF FORT LYON DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS MEDICAL CENTER ON ADMINISTRATION OF HEALTH CARE FOR VETERANS. (a) Payment for Nursing Home Care.—Notwithstanding any limitation under section 1720 or 1741 of title 38, United States Code, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs may pay the State of Colorado, or any private nursing home care facility, for costs incurred in providing nursing home care to any veteran who is relocated from the Fort Lyon Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Colorado, to a facility of the State of Colorado or such private facility, as the case may be, as a result of the closure of the Fort Lyon Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center. (b) Obligation To Provide Extended Care Services.—Nothing in section 246 or this section may be construed to alter or otherwise affect the obligation of the Secretary to meet the requirements of section 1710B(b) of title 38, United States Code, 114 STAT. 1852relating to staffing and levels of extended care services in fiscal years after fiscal year 1998. (c) Report on Veterans Health Care in Southern Colorado.—Not later than one year after the conveyance, if any, authorized by section 246, the Under Secretary for Health of the Department of Veterans Affairs, acting through the Director of Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) 19, shall submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the House of Representatives a report on the status of the health care system for veterans under that Network in southern Colorado. The report shall describe any improvements to the system in southern Colorado that have been put into effect in the period beginning on the date of the conveyance and ending on the date of the report.