For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
May 28, 2001
Executive Order
President's Task Force to Improve Health Care Delivery for Our Nation's Veterans
By the authority vested in me as President by
the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America,
including the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as amended (5 U.S.C.
App.), and in order to provide prompt and efficient access to
consistently high quality health care for veterans who have served the
Nation, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section
1. Establishment. There is established the
President's Task Force to Improve Health Care Delivery for Our Nation's
Veterans (Task Force).
Sec. 2. Membership. The
Task Force shall be comprised of 15 members appointed by the
President. Two of the 15 members shall serve as co-chairs of
the Task Force. The Task Force membership shall include
health care experts, officials familiar with Department of Veterans
Affairs and Department of Defense health care systems, and
representatives from veteran and military service organizations.
Sec. 3. Mission. The
mission of the Task Force shall be to:
(a) identify
ways to improve benefits and services for
Department of Veterans Affairs beneficiaries and Department
of Defense military retirees who are also eligible for
benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs through
better coordination of the activities of the two
departments;
(b) review
barriers and challenges that impede Department of
Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense coordination,
including budgeting processes, timely billing, cost
accounting, information technology, and reimbursement.
Identify opportunities to improve such business practices to
ensure high quality and cost effective health care; and
(c) identify
opportunities for improved resource utilization
through partnership between the Department of Veterans
Affairs and the Department of Defense to maximize the use of
resources and infrastructure, including: buildings,
information technology and data sharing systems, procurement
of supplies, equipment and services, and delivery of care.
Sec. 4. Administration.
(a) The
Department of Veterans Affairs shall, to the extent
permitted by law, provide administrative support and funding
for the Task Force.
(b) Members
of the Task Force shall serve without any
compensation for their work on the Task Force. Members
appointed from among private citizens of the United States,
however, while engaged in the work of the Task Force, may be
allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of
subsistence, as authorized by law for persons serving
intermittently in Government service (5 U.S.C. 5701-5707),
to the extent funds are available.
(c) The
co-chairs of the Task Force shall appoint an Executive
Director to coordinate administration of the Task Force. To
the extent permitted by law, office space, analytical
support, and additional staff support for the Commission
shall be provided by executive branch departments and
agencies as directed by the President.
(d) The
heads of the executive branch departments and agencies
shall, to the extent permitted by law, provide the Task
Force with information as requested by the co-chairs.
(e) At
the call of the co-chairs, the Task Force shall meet as
necessary to accomplish its mission.
(f) The
functions of the President under the Federal Advisory
Committee Act, as amended, except for those in section 6 of
that Act, that are applicable to the Task Force, shall be
performed by the Department of Veterans Affairs, in
accordance with the guidelines that have been issued by the
Administrator of General Services.
Sec. 5. Reports. The
Task Force shall report its findings and
recommendations to the President, through the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs and Secretary of Defense. The Task Force
shall issue an interim report in 9 months from the date of
the first meeting of the Task Force. The Task Force shall
issue a final report prior to the end of the second year of
operation.
Sec. 6.
Termination. The Task Force shall terminate 30 days after
submitting its final report, but no later than 2 years from
the date of this order.
GEORGE W. BUSH
THE WHITE HOUSE,
May 28, 2001.
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