
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 23, 2000]
[Document affected by Public Law 107-135 Section 208(e)(5)]
[CITE: 38USC1729A]

 
                      TITLE 38--VETERANS' BENEFITS
 
                        PART II--GENERAL BENEFITS
 
    CHAPTER 17--HOSPITAL, NURSING HOME, DOMICILIARY, AND MEDICAL CARE
 
   SUBCHAPTER III--MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS RELATING TO HOSPITAL AND 
           NURSING HOME CARE AND MEDICAL TREATMENT OF VETERANS
 
Sec. 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 1725 of this title.
        (6) Section 1729 of this title.
        (7) 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 Control 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) 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 Department health care facility 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 facility 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 facility the entirety of the amount specified to be 
made available to such facility by the preceding sentence.
    (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.
    (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).

(Added Pub. L. 105-33, title VIII, Sec. 8023(a)(1), Aug. 5, 1997, 111 
Stat. 665; amended Pub. L. 106-117, title I, Sec. 111(b)(1), title II, 
Sec. 203, Nov. 30, 1999, 113 Stat. 1556, 1561.)

                       References in Text

    Public Law 87-693, popularly known as the Federal Medical Care 
Recovery Act, referred to in subsec. (b)(7), is Pub. L. 87-693, Sept. 
25, 1962, 76 Stat. 593, which is classified generally to chapter 32 
(Sec. 2651 et seq.) of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare. For 
complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Tables.
    Section 257 of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act 
of 1985, referred to in subsec. (c)(3)(A), is classified to section 907 
of Title 2, The Congress.


                               Amendments

    1999--Subsec. (b)(5) to (7). Pub. L. 106-117, Sec. 111(b)(1), added 
par. (5) and redesignated former pars. (5) and (6) as (6) and (7), 
respectively.
    Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 106-117, Sec. 203, struck out par. (1) 
designation, substituted ``each Department health care facility'' for 
``each designated health care region'' and ``each facility'' for ``each 
region'', substituted ``such facility'' for ``such region'' in two 
places, and struck out par. (2) which read as follows: ``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.''


                    Effective Date of 1999 Amendment

    Amendment by section 111(b)(1) of Pub. L. 106-117 effective 180 days 
after Nov. 30, 1999, see section 111(c) of Pub. L. 106-117, set out as 
an Effective Date note under section 1725 of this title.


                             Effective Date

    Section effective Oct. 1, 1997, see section 8023(g) of Pub. L. 105-
33, set out as an Effective Date of 1997 Amendment note under section 
712 of this title.


       Report on Implementation of Section 8023 of Pub. L. 105-33

    Section 8023(f) of Pub. L. 105-33 provided that: ``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 on the implementation of this section [enacting 
this section, amending sections 712, 1710, 1722A, and 1729 of this 
title, and enacting provisions set out as notes under sections 712 and 
1729 of this title]. 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 each 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.''

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in section 1729B of this title.
