Sponsors (13)
The bill aims to speed and improve veterans' access to care, increase transparency, strengthen infrastructure, and support the VA workforce — but does so at the expense of substantial taxpayer costs, added administrative and IT burdens, and risks to provider availability and project execution if implementation and capacity are not managed carefully.
Veterans will get faster, more reliable access to care: the bill sets wait‑time expectations (non‑urgent within 7 days, urgent within 48 hours), expands tele‑emergency options, and requires scheduling and wait‑time information at appointment booking and on public sites.
Veterans, taxpayers, and Congress gain stronger transparency and oversight through required facility‑level reporting of scheduling times, OIG audit authority, public posting of reviews and follow‑ups, and GAO/other reviews of capital projects and community care spending.
Veterans and local communities will benefit from improved VA infrastructure planning and resilience: multi‑year capital plans, prioritized projects for specialized long‑term care, resilience assessments, and authorized multi‑year appropriations should accelerate and strengthen facility modernization.
Veterans and VA staff face rushed or resource‑strained implementation because a one‑year statutory deadline and many new reporting/operational requirements could force rapid rollouts, increasing risk of administrative errors or incomplete programs.
Taxpayers will likely face substantial new costs from large, multi‑year construction authorizations, expanded personnel pay/incentives, OIG investigations/studies, IT/reporting upgrades, and other implementation expenses.
Stricter provider termination, training, and data requirements — plus financial penalties for non‑VA providers — could shrink available community provider capacity and delay veterans' care in some areas.
Based on analysis of 12 sections of legislative text.
Establishes VA scheduling standards and reporting; reforms emergency reimbursement, staffing/pay, capital planning, telehealth, and oversight; requires multiple studies and reports.
Introduced December 11, 2025 by Richard Blumenthal · Last progress December 11, 2025
Sets firm appointment-timing standards for VA care (non-urgent within 7 days, urgent within 48 hours) and requires facility-level quarterly reporting on scheduling by specialty. Requires multiple reviews, reports, and reforms across VA operations: an independent review of emergency-treatment reimbursement, an analysis of inpatient emergency spending and dialysis care, tele‑emergency feasibility, personnel pay and retirement changes for certain VA staff, and stronger capital-asset planning, staffing, and oversight. Many actions must be done within 180 days to 1 year; some reviews and investigations have up to 18 months for completion. Aims to increase access, transparency, and accountability across VA health care and facilities by mandating timetables, remediation plans for slow facilities, OIG and GAO studies, changes to hiring/pay/retention authorities, and updated rules for land acquisition and capital project management.