MEDICAL READINESS OF RESERVES.

SEC. 732. MEDICAL READINESS OF RESERVES.(a) Comptroller General Study of Health of Reserves Ordered to Active Duty for Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.—(1) Requirement for study.—The Comptroller General shall carry out a study of the health of the members of the reserve components of the Armed Forces who have been called or ordered to active duty for a period of more than 30 days in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. The Comptroller General shall commence the study not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.(2) Purposes.—The purposes of the study under this subsection are as follows:(A) To review the health status and medical fitness of the activated Reserves when they were called or ordered to active duty.(B) To review the effects, if any, on logistics planning and the deployment schedules for the operations referred to in paragraph (1) that resulted from deficiencies in the health or medical fitness of activated Reserves.(C) To review compliance of military personnel with Department of Defense policies on medical and physical 118 STAT. 1996 fitness examinations and assessments that are applicable to the reserve components of the Armed Forces.(3) Report.—The Comptroller General shall, not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, submit a report on the results of the study under this subsection to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The report shall include the following matters:(A) With respect to the matters reviewed under subparagraph (A) of paragraph (2)—(i) the percentage of activated Reserves who were determined to be medically unfit for deployment, together with an analysis of the reasons why the member was unfit, including medical illnesses or conditions most commonly found among the activated Reserves that were grounds for determinations of medical unfitness for deployment; and(ii) the percentage of the activated Reserves who, before being deployed, needed medical care for health conditions identified when called or ordered to active duty, together with an analysis of the types of care that were provided for such conditions and the reasons why such care was necessary.(B) With respect to the matters reviewed under subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2)—(i) the delays and other disruptions in deployment schedules that resulted from deficiencies in the health status or medical fitness of activated Reserves; and(ii) an analysis of the extent to which it was necessary to merge units or otherwise alter the composition of units, and the extent to which it was necessary to merge or otherwise alter objectives, in order to compensate for limitations on the deployability of activated Reserves resulting from deficiencies in the health status or medical fitness of activated Reserves.(C) With respect to the matters reviewed under subparagraph (C) of paragraph (2), an assessment of the extent of the compliance of reserve component personnel with Department of Defense policies on routine medical and physical fitness examinations that are applicable to the reserve components of the Armed Forces.(D) An analysis of the extent to which the medical care, if any, provided to activated Reserves in each theater of operations referred to in paragraph (1) related to preexisting conditions that were not adequately addressed before the deployment of such personnel to the theater.(4) Definitions.—In this subsection:(A) The term “activated Reserves” means the members of the Armed Forces referred to in paragraph (1).(B) The term “active duty for a period of more than 30 days” has the meaning given such term in section 101(d) of title 10, United States Code.(C) The term “health condition” includes a mental health condition and a dental condition.(D) The term “reserve components of the Armed Forces” means the reserve components listed in section 10101 of title 10, United States Code.118 STAT. 1997(b) Accountability for Medical Readiness of Individuals and Units of the Reserve Components.—(1) Policy.—The Secretary of Defense shall take measures, in addition to those required by section 1074f of title 10, United States Code, to ensure that individual members and commanders of reserve component units fulfill their responsibilities and meet the requirements for medical and dental readiness of members of the units. Such measures may include—(A) requiring more frequent health assessments of members than is required by section 1074f(b) of title 10, United States Code, with an objective of having every member of the Selected Reserve receive a health assessment as specified in section 1074f of such title not less frequently than once every two years; and(B) providing additional support and information to commanders to assist them in improving the health status of members of their units.(2) Review and followup care.—The measures under this subsection shall provide for review of the health assessments under paragraph (1) by a medical professional and for any followup care and treatment that is otherwise authorized for medical or dental readiness.(3) Modification of predeployment health assessment survey.—In carrying out paragraph (1), the Secretary shall—(A) to the extent practicable, modify the predeployment health assessment survey to bring such survey into conformity with the detailed postdeployment health assessment survey in use as of October 1, 2004; and(B) ensure the use of the predeployment health assessment survey, as so modified, for predeployment health assessments after that date.(c) Uniform Policy on Deferral of Medical Treatment Pending Deployment to Theaters of Operations.—(1) Requirement for policy.—The Secretary of Defense shall prescribe, for uniform applicability throughout the Armed Forces, a policy on deferral of medical treatment of members pending deployment.(2) Content.—The policy prescribed under paragraph (1) may specify the following matters:(A) The circumstances under which treatment for medical conditions may be deferred to be provided within a theater of operations in order to prevent delay or other disruption of a deployment to that theater.(B) The circumstances under which medical conditions are to be treated before deployment to that theater.