Sec. 201. PARTNERSHIPS WITH NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE TO EXPAND ACCESS OF VETERANS TO CANCER CARE

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## SEC. 201 PARTNERSHIPS WITH NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE TO EXPAND ACCESS OF VETERANS TO CANCER CARE ###

(a)Access to Care in Each VISN ####

(1)In general The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall enter into a partnership with not fewer than one cancer center of the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health in each Veterans Integrated Service Network of the Department of Veterans Affairs to expand access to high-quality cancer care for women veterans. ####

(2)Treatment of rural veterans The Secretary, in carrying out partnerships entered into under paragraph (1), shall ensure that veterans with breast cancer who reside in rural areas or States without a cancer center that has entered into such a partnership with the Secretary are able to receive care through such a partnership via telehealth. ###

(b)Report on Partnership To Increase Access to Clinical Trials Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives a report on— ####

(1)how the Secretary will ensure that the advancements made through the existing partnership between the Department of Veterans Affairs and the National Cancer Institute to provide veterans with access to clinical cancer research trials (commonly referred to as “NAVIGATE”) are permanently implemented; and ####

(2)the determination of the Secretary of whether expansion of such partnership to more than the original 12 facilities of the Department that were selected under such partnership is feasible. ###

(c)Periodic Reports Not later than three years after the date of the enactment of this Act, and every three years thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives a report— ####

(1)assessing how the partnerships entered into under subsection (a)(1) have impacted access by veterans to cancer centers of the National Cancer Institute, including an assessment of the telehealth options made available and used pursuant to such partnerships; and ####

(2)describing the advancements made with respect to access by veterans to clinical cancer research trials through the partnership described in subsection (b)(1), including how many of those veterans were women veterans, minority veterans (including racial and ethnic minorities), and rural veterans, and identifying opportunities for further innovation.