After a long day of debate yesterday, much of it on topics unrelated to the provisions of S. 1963, the Senate passed the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2009 at 3:22 p.m. EST.  The vote was 98-0 in favor with two senators not voting.  For additional details of the vote, go to:  http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=111&session=1&vote=00352

Chairman Akaka and his staff members Kim Lipsky and Andrea Buck, MD, as well as Ranking Member Richard Burr and his staff member Jonathan Towers, are to be congratulated for achieving such a resounding success in light of the many competing priorities for Senate attention.  Veterans and their families will reap substantial direct, long term benefits from the caregiver, women’s health and homeless provisions, and we should be very proud that improvements to the NPC statute are encompassed in the same legislation. 

As noted in a previous email, the next challenge is conference; that is, the process of resolving the differences between House- and Senate-passed versions of the various provisions of S. 1963, followed by House and Senate approval of the conference report.  In regard to the NPC legislation, this entails reconciling minor differences in the wording of H.R. 2770 and reaching agreement on whether to include three issues added only to the House bill by amendment.  Those are: modifying the conflict of interest requirements in the NPC statute, raising the audit thresholds and clarifying whether VA employees may serve as NPC executive directors.  After discussions with VA, it has become apparent that adding this clarification will not afford VA employees the conflict of interest protections first thought, and it would not be surprising if this item were to be dropped in the final conference report.