(a) In General.—
To support the medical readiness of the armed forces and the readiness of medical personnel, the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Secretaries of the military departments, shall maintain the military medical treatment facilities described in subsections (b), (c), and (d).
(b) Medical Centers.—
(1)
The Secretary of Defense shall maintain medical centers in areas with a large population of members of the armed forces and covered beneficiaries.
(2)
Medical centers shall serve as referral facilities for members and covered beneficiaries who require comprehensive health care services that support medical readiness.
(3) Medical centers shall consist of the following:
(4)
(A)
The Secretary shall designate certain major medical centers as regional centers of excellence for the provision of specialty care services in the areas of specialty care described in subparagraph (D). A major medical center may be designated as a center of excellence under this subparagraph for more than one such area of specialty care.
(B) The Secretary may designate certain medical centers as satellite centers of excellence for the provision of specialty care services for specific conditions, such as the following:
(C) Centers of excellence designated under this paragraph shall serve the purposes of—
(E)
(i)
Centers of excellence designated under this paragraph shall be the primary source within the military health system for the receipt by eligible beneficiaries of specialty care.
(ii)
Eligible beneficiaries seeking a specialty care service through the military health system shall be referred to a center of excellence designated under subparagraph (A) for that area of specialty care or, if the specialty care service sought is unavailable at such center, to an appropriate specialty care provider in the private sector.
(5)
(A)
The Secretary of Defense shall designate and maintain certain military medical treatment facilities as core casualty receiving facilities, to ensure the medical capability and capacity required to diagnose, treat, and rehabilitate large volumes of combat casualties and, as may be directed by the President or the Secretary, provide a medical response to events the President determines or declares as natural disasters, mass casualty events, or other national emergencies.
(B)
The Secretary shall ensure that the military medical treatment facilities selected for designation pursuant to subparagraph (A) are geographically located to facilitate the aeromedical evacuation of casualties from theaters of operations.
(C) The Secretary—
(i)
shall ensure that the Secretaries of the military departments assign military personnel to core casualty receiving facilities designated under subparagraph (A) at not less than 90 percent of the staffing level required to maintain the operating bed capacity necessary to support operation planning requirements;
(ii)
may augment the staffing of military personnel at core casualty receiving facilities under subparagraph (A) with civilian employees of the Department of Defense to fulfil the staffing requirement under clause (i); and
(iii)
shall ensure that each core casualty receiving facility under subparagraph (A) is staffed with a civilian Chief Financial Officer and a civilian Chief Operating Officer with experience in the management of civilian hospital systems, for the purpose of ensuring continuity in the management of the facility.
(D) In this paragraph:
(i)
The term “core casualty receiving facility” means a Role 4 medical treatment facility that serves as a medical hub for the receipt and treatment of casualties, including civilian casualties, that may result from combat or from an event the President determines or declares as a natural disaster, mass casualty event, or other national emergency.
(ii)
The term “Role 4 medical treatment facility” means a medical treatment facility that provides the full range of preventative, curative, acute, convalescent, restorative, and rehabilitative care.
(c) Hospitals.—
(1)
The Secretary of Defense shall maintain hospitals in areas where civilian health care facilities are unable to support the health care needs of members of the armed forces and covered beneficiaries.
(d) Ambulatory Care Centers.—
(1)
The Secretary of Defense shall maintain ambulatory care centers in areas where civilian health care facilities are able to support the health care needs of members of the armed forces and covered beneficiaries.
(2)
Ambulatory care centers shall provide the outpatient health services required to maintain medical readiness, including with respect to partnerships established pursuant to section 706 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017.
(e) Maintenance of Inpatient Capabilities at Military Medical Treatment Facilities Located Outside the United States.—
(1)
In carrying out subsection (a), the Secretary of Defense shall ensure that each covered facility maintains, at a minimum, inpatient capabilities that the Secretary determines are similar to the inpatient capabilities of such facility on September 30, 2016.
(2) The Secretary may not eliminate the inpatient capabilities of a covered facility until the day that is 180 days after the Secretary provides a briefing to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives regarding the proposed elimination. During any such briefing, the Secretary shall certify the following:
(A) The Secretary has entered into agreements with hospitals or medical centers in the host nation of such covered facility that—
(ii)
ensure members of the armed forces and covered beneficiaries who receive health care from such covered facility, have, within a distance the Secretary determines is reasonable, access to quality health care, including case management and translation services.
(B)
The Secretary has consulted with the commander of the geographic combatant command in which such covered facility is located to ensure that the proposed elimination would have no impact on the operational plan for such geographic combatant command.
(C) Before the Secretary eliminates the inpatient capabilities of such covered facility, the Secretary shall provide each member of the armed forces or covered beneficiary who receives health care from the covered facility with—
(ii)
a public forum to discuss the concerns of the member or covered beneficiary regarding the proposed reduction.
(3)
In this subsection, the term “covered facility” means a military medical treatment facility located outside the United States.
(f) Notification Required to Modify Scope of Services Provided at Military Medical Treatment Facilities.—
(1) The Secretary of Defense may not modify the scope of medical care provided at a military medical treatment facility, or the beneficiary population served at the facility, unless—
(A)
the Secretary submits to the Committees on Armed Services of the House of Representatives and the Senate a notification of the proposed modification in scope;
(B)
a period of 180 days has elapsed following the date on which the Secretary submits such notification; and
(C)
if the proposed modification in scope involves the termination or reduction of inpatient capabilities at a military medical treatment facility located outside the United States, the Secretary has provided to each member of the armed forces or covered beneficiary receiving services at such facility a transition plan for the continuity of health care for such member or covered beneficiary.
(2)
Each notification under paragraph (1) shall contain information demonstrating, with respect to the military medical treatment facility for which the modification in scope has been proposed, the extent to which the commander of the military installation at which the facility is located has been consulted regarding such modification, to ensure that the proposed modification in scope would have no impact on the operational plan for such installation.
(Added Pub. L. 114–328, div. A, title VII, § 703(a)(1), Dec. 23, 2016, 130 Stat. 2197; amended Pub. L. 115–91, div. A, title VII, § 711, Dec. 12, 2017, 131 Stat. 1436; Pub. L. 117–263, div. A, title VII, §§ 712, 713(a), 714(a), 715, Dec. 23, 2022, 136 Stat. 2657, 2659, 2660.)