H.R. 3400 — Territorial Response and Access to Veterans’ Essential Lifecare Act

This section authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to appoint physicians (appointed under 38 U.S.C. §§ 7401 or 7431) as traveling physicians for up to one year to provide health care to veterans at Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities or other approved facilities in American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, or other U.S. territories or possessions. Traveling physicians must coordinate with non-VA providers to ensure high-quality care and, in addition to pay under 38 U.S.C. § 7431, receive a relocation or retention bonus substantially similar to those authorized under 38 U.S.C. § 7410(a). The section also makes clerical and conforming amendments to the table of sections for chapter 74 of title 38, U.S. Code, and related provisions (i.e., changing "retention allowances" to "retention bonuses" in §§ 7410(a)(1) and 7431(e)(5)(B)).