REPORT ON PLAN TO IMPROVE PEDIATRIC CARE AND RELATED SERVICES FOR CHILDREN OF MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES.

SEC. 733. REPORT ON PLAN TO IMPROVE PEDIATRIC CARE AND RELATED SERVICES FOR CHILDREN OF MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES. (a) In General.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives a report setting forth a plan of the Department of Defense to improve pediatric care and related services for children of members of the Armed Forces. (b) Elements.—The report required by subsection (a) shall include the following: (1) In order to ensure that children receive developmentally appropriate and age-appropriate health care services from the Department, a plan to align preventive pediatric care under the TRICARE program with— (A) standards for such care as required by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Public Law 111-148); (B) guidelines established for such care by the Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment program under the Medicaid program carried out under title XIX of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.); and (C) recommendations by organizations that specialize in pediatrics. (2) A plan to develop a uniform definition of “pediatric medical necessity” for the Department that aligns with recommendations of organizations that specialize in pediatrics in order to ensure that a consistent definition of such term is used in providing health care in military treatment facilities and by health care providers under the TRICARE program. (3) A plan to develop measures to evaluate and improve access to pediatric care, coordination of pediatric care, and health outcomes for such children. (4) A plan to include an assessment of access to pediatric specialty care in the annual report to Congress on the effectiveness of the TRICARE program. (5) A plan to improve the quality of and access to behavioral health care under the TRICARE program for children of members of the Armed Forces, including intensive outpatient and partial hospitalization services. (6) A plan to mitigate the impact of permanent changes of station and other service-related relocations of members of the Armed Forces on the continuity of health care services received by such children who have special medical or behavioral health needs. (7) A plan to mitigate deficiencies in data collection, data utilization, and data analysis to improve pediatric care and related services for children of members of the Armed Forces. (c) TRICARE Program Defined.—In this section, the term “TRICARE program” has the meaning given such term in section 1072 of title 10, United States Code.