Health Records Enhancement Act
Sponsored By: Senator Peter Welch
Introduced
Summary
Permits posthumous updates to Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs medical records by a designated person or an immediate family member. The Secretaries of Defense and Veterans Affairs would jointly set up a process for designating an updater and must put the update mechanism in place within one year of enactment.
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- Families and designees: A designated person or, if none, an immediate family member could submit observed health conditions and other relevant information to supplement a deceased enrollee's health record.
- Who is covered: The change applies to individuals who were enrolled in the VA patient enrollment system or who were entitled to care under TRICARE at the time of death.
- Agency duties: The two Secretaries would jointly create the update process and a method for people to name a designee. Any update would supplement, and not modify, the information already in the deceased enrollee's record.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
1 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.
Update deceased military health records
If enacted, the Department of Defense and VA would set up a process for updating records of deceased enrollees. A person designated by the deceased would be allowed to submit observations and other relevant health information. If no designee exists, an immediate family member could submit updates. Immediate family includes spouse, parent, brother, sister, adult child, or adult who acted as a parent. Any update would only add information and may not change existing records. The Departments must implement this process within one year after enactment.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Peter Welch
VT • D
Cosponsors
There are no cosponsors for this bill.
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
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