38 U.S.C. § 1745 — Nursing home care, adult day health care, and medications for veterans with service-connected disabilities

(a) (1) The Secretary^* must make an agreement with each State home^* to pay for nursing-home care provided to a veteran^* who needs that care for a service-connected^* disability^*, or who has a service-connected disability rated at 70 percent or more and needs the care. (2) The Secretary and the State^* home must use a jointly developed method that adequately reimburses the home. (3) The payment is full payment for that care. (4)(A) The Secretary or an authorized Department^* official may approve the agreement; doing so is not an award that triggers otherwise applicable competitive-procedure laws. (B)(i) Unless the agreement, this section, or regulations say otherwise, the State home is not subject to laws that do not apply to Medicare providers and suppliers. (ii) It remains subject to laws on integrity, ethics, fraud, civil or criminal penalties, employment discrimination and equal opportunity, and every provision of this subchapter. (iii) It is not treated as a Federal contractor or subcontractor under the McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract Act of 1965. (b) The Secretary must provide prescription drugs and medicines ordered by a licensed physician as specific treatment to: (1) a veteran who is not receiving nursing-home care paid for under subsection (a) and needs the drugs for a service-connected disability; (2) a veteran with a service-connected disability rated at 50 percent or more who is not receiving that nursing-home care and needs the drugs; and (3) a veteran whom the Secretary has found catastrophically disabled, as defined in section 17.36(e) of title 38, Code of Federal Regulations, or successor regulations, when the Secretary pays a State home per diem for the veteran's nursing-home or domiciliary care^*. (c) A State home seeking payment or reimbursement must give the Secretary information needed to identify each eligible veteran. (d)(1) The Secretary must agree with each State home to pay for medical-supervision-model adult day health care for a veteran described in subsection (a)(1), when the home is not receiving nursing-home payment from the Secretary for that veteran. (2)(A) The rate must be set by regulation to adequately reimburse the home, including necessary transportation. (B) The Secretary must consult State homes before issuing the regulation. (C) The rate cannot begin until 30 days after publication in the Federal Register. (3) The payment is full payment for that care. (4) “Medical supervision model adult day health care” means adult day health care that includes coordinating physician, dental, and nursing services, administering drugs, and other requirements the Secretary considers appropriate.