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S. 734: Rural Veterans Health Care Access and Quality Act of 2009

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S. 734: Rural Veterans Health Care Access and Quality Act of 2009

111th Congress · introduced 2009-03-30 · Armed Forces and National Security · Latest: Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 111-76.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

  1. Where it came from: introduced 2009-03-30 · official record
  2. Who proposed it: Sen. Akaka, Daniel K. [D-HI] · what a sponsor is
  3. What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
  4. Where it stands now: Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 111-76. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
  5. If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

Rural Veterans Health Care Access and Quality Act of 2009

Plain summary

Rural Veterans Health Care Access and Quality Act of 2009 - Removes the $44,000-per-individual limit on authorized payments by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs under the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health professionals education debt reduction program. Requires notice to potential employees of their eligibility and selection for participation in such program. Includes VA facilities in the list of medical facilities eligible for the assignment of participants under the National Health Service Corps Scholarship Program. Requires the Director of the VA's Office of Rural Health to develop an Office five-year strategic plan. Authorizes the use of volunteer counselors as part of the Vet Center program. Directs the Secretary to carry out a program of teleconsultation for the provision of remote mental health and traumatic brain injury assessments in VA facilities not otherwise able to provide such assessments without contracting out or reimbursing other providers for such services. Requires the Secretary, for each Veterans Integrated Services Network, to negotiate with each party that has contracts to provide services at more than one community-based outpatient clinic in that Network to consolidate such contracts. Directs the Secretary to designate a rural outreach coordinator at each such clinic at which not less than 50% of the veterans enrolled reside in a highly rural area. Provides for peer review of health care services and patient records within the Network. Authorizes reimbursement for veterans' beneficiaries for air travel when it is the only practical way to reach a VA health care facility. Directs the Secretary to carry out a pilot program on incentives for physicians who assume responsibilities of primary care and mental health services to veterans at community hospitals in health professional shortage areas.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

What a vote does

A “Yea” vote

If it passes both chambers and is signed, it becomes law.

A “Nay” vote

If it is not passed, current law stays as it is.

PSI Sci description of the legislative step (not an opinion).

What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Rural Veterans Health Care Access and Quality Act of 2009

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)

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The strongest published arguments

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Alternatives

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Sen. Akaka, Daniel K. [D-HI] · 2 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Words on this page, explained (1)
Authorization
A law that creates or continues a government program and says what it may do, often with a suggested spending ceiling. An authorization alone does not provide money; a separate appropriation does.

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Record fed-us-cong111-s734 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong111 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong111