Improving Access to Care for Rural Veterans Act

Summary

Requires each VA medical facility to form formal partnerships with rural medical providers to expand care access for veterans living in rural areas and to reduce costs. Partnerships can include telehealth, co-location or leasing, training, care coordination, emergency services (including transport), and other service arrangements. Sets deadlines and reporting: the VA must brief Congress within 180 days on implementation plans, bring all existing VA facilities into compliance (or obtain waivers) within three years, allow waivers up to five years (renewable after evaluation) with near-immediate congressional notice, and report on partnership performance two years after enactment and every two years thereafter.

• Requires every VA medical facility to enter into a partnership with a rural medical facility to expand rural veterans' access and reduce costs.
• Permits partnerships to include telehealth, co-location/leasing, training, care coordination, emergency services (including transportation), and other arrangements.
• Authorizes waivers of the partnership requirement for up to five years; waivers are renewable after evaluation but require Congress to be notified within 48 hours before they take effect.
• Requires a detailed VA implementation briefing to congressional committees within 180 days, including timelines, responsible officials, oversight plans, and standardized waiver forms/criteria.
• Mandates a report two years after enactment and biennially thereafter on partnership counts, performance, comparisons to the prior five-year period, and best practices.
• Existing VA medical facilities seeing patients must comply or have a waiver within three years; new facilities have three years from first seeing patients.
• Uses RUCA-based definition of rural and is supplemental to current VA statutory authority.
• Focuses on expanding access for rural veterans while building VA oversight, evaluation, and standardized processes for partnerships and waivers.