Sec. 509. Study on veterans in Territories of the United States
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The Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct a study on the state of access and barriers to benefits and services furnished under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to veterans in Territories of the United States, including deficits in the availability and accessibility of such benefits and services compared to veterans elsewhere in the United States. The study under paragraph
(1)shall include— the number of veterans in each Territory of the United States; the number of veterans in each Territory who are enrolled in the system of annual patient enrollment of the Department of Veterans Affairs under section 1705(a) of title 38, United States Code; the number of veterans in each Territory who are eligible for services under section 1710 of such title but who are not enrolled as described in subparagraph (B); a detailed description of obstacles facing veterans in each Territory in accessing health care services, including those involving the availability of such services to veterans in the Territory in which the veterans reside, and the distance required of veterans to journey to receive services at a regional medical center of the Veterans Health Administration, a community-based outpatient clinic, or other full-service medical facility of the Department, or death center, respectively; a detailed description of obstacles facing veterans in each Territory in accessing readjustment counseling services, including those involving the availability of such services to veterans in the Territory in which the veterans reside, and the distance required of veterans to journey to receive services at a readjustment counseling services center of the Department; a detailed description of obstacles facing veterans in each Territory in accessing other veterans benefits, including those involving the availability of benefits and services to veterans in the Territory in which the veterans reside, and the distance required of the veterans to journey to the nearest office of the Veterans Benefits Administration; an analysis of the staffing and recordkeeping levels and quality of the offices of the Department charged with serving veterans in the Territories, including the availability of the full- and part-time staff of each office to the veterans they are charged with serving, and the continuity of care provided by such staff to such veterans; an analysis of the availability of the Veterans Community Care Program established under section 1703 of title 38, United States Code, to veterans in each Territory; an analysis of the economic and health consequences for veterans in each Territory resulting from obstacles to accessing adequate assistance and health care at facilities of the Department; an analysis of the access to assistance and health care provided to veterans in the aftermath of major disasters declared in each of the Territories since September 4, 2017; and recommendations for improving access of veterans in the Territories to benefits and services furnished by the Secretary, and reducing barriers and deficits in the availability and accessibility of such benefits and services compared to veterans elsewhere in the United States. Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to Congress a final report setting forth the results of the study conducted under subsection (a), including the recommendations developed under paragraph (2)(K) of such subsection. In this section, the term Territory includes American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.