Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 90 Part 2.djvu/1378

 90 STAT. 2846

Recordkeeping.

Veterans' Administration Special Therapeutic and Rehabilitation Activities Fund. Establishment.

38 USC 1501, 1651, 1700.

Regulations.

Qaims, settlement. 38 USC 618 note.

PUBLIC LAW 94-581—OCT. 21, 1976 "(b)(1) In furnishing rehabilitative services under this chapter, the Administrator, upon the recommendation of the Chief Medical Director, may enter into contractual arrangements with private industry or other sources outside the Veterans' Administration to provide for therapeutic work for remuneration for patients and members in Veterans' Administration health care facilities. " (2) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Administrator may also furnish rehabilitative services under this subsection through contractual arangements with nonprofit entities to provide for such therapeutic work for such patients. The Administrator shall establish appropriate fiscal, accounting, management, recordkeeping, and reporting requirements with respect to the activities of any such nonprofit entity in connection with such contractual arrangements. "(c)(1) There is hereby established in the Treasury of the United States a revolving fund known as the Veterans' Administration Special Therapeutic and Rehabilitation Activities Fund (hereinafter in this section referred to as the 'fund') for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of subsection (b) of this section. Such amounts of the fund as the Administrator may determine to be necessary to establish and maintain operating accounts for the various rehabilitative services activities may be deposited in checking accounts in other depositaries selected or established by the Administrator. (2) All funds received by the Veterans' Administration under contractual arrangements made under subsection (b) of this section, or by nonprofit entities described in paragraph (2) of such subsection, shall be deposited in or credited to the fund, and the Administrator shall pay out of the fund moneys to participants at rates not less than the wage rates specified in the Fair Labor Standards Act (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.) and regulations prescribed thereunder for work of similar character. "(3) The Chief Medical Director shall prepare, for inclusion in the annual report submitted to Congress under section 214 of this title, a description of the scope and achievements of activities carried out under this section (including pertinent data regarding productivity and wage rates) during the prior twelve months and an estimate of the needs of the program of therapeutic and rehabilitation activities to be carried out under this section for the ensuing fiscal year. "(d) In providing rehabilitative services under this chapter, the Administrator shall take appropriate action to make it possible for the patient to take maximum advantage of any benefits to which such patient is entitled under chapter 31, 34, or 35 of this title, and, if the patient is still receiving treatment of a prolonged nature under this chapter, the provision of rehabilitative services under this chapter shall be continued during, and coordinated with, the pursuit of education and training under such chapter 31,34, or 35. "(e) The Administrator shall prescribe regulations to ensure that the priorities set forth in section 612(i) of this title shall be applied, insofar as practicable, to participation in therapeutic and rehabilitation activities carried out under this section.". (b)(1) The Administrator is authorized to settle claims made by the Veterans' Administration against any private nonprofit corporation organized under the laws of any State, for the use of Veterans' Administration facilities and personnel in work projects as a part of a therapeutic or rehabilitation program for patients and members in Veterans' Administration health care facilities, and to execute a binding release of all claims by the United States against any such corpora-

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