Sponsors (9)
The bill increases transparency and sets enforceable appointment-timing expectations that should improve veterans' timely access and choice, but it raises administrative costs, risks unfairly penalizing centers, and could produce misleading performance signals if timing standards don't account for clinical complexity.
Veterans will have clearer, enforceable timing expectations for appointments (e.g., three-business-day and seven-calendar-day standards), which should improve timely access to VA and community care for many patients.
Veterans and their families can make more informed care choices because facility-level reports publish rankings and breakdowns by care category and State, increasing transparency about where timely care is being delivered.
Public reporting and accountability may prompt faster improvements in scheduling, resource allocation, and performance at underperforming centers.
Preparing and publishing detailed quarterly, facility-level reports will increase VA administrative workload and implementation costs, potentially diverting resources from direct care and imposing costs on taxpayers.
Rigid timing standards may be difficult to meet for high‑demand specialties or complex cases, risking misleading performance signals and potential negative effects on access or care prioritization if risk/complexity aren't fully accounted for.
Publicly ranking medical centers could stigmatize lower‑ranked facilities, demoralize staff, and complicate recruitment and retention—potentially undermining care continuity at those sites.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to set a clear timing standard for how long it should take from when a referral is entered into the VA care coordination system to when a veteran’s appointment occurs, whether at a VA facility or through community care. The Secretary must publish that timing standard (and any changes) publicly at least 30 days before it takes effect and must report detailed, regularly updated performance data to Congress and the public. Mandates quarterly reports showing how many referrals meet the timing standard, with specific breakdowns by facility, by two sub-standards (3 business days for facility scheduling and 7 calendar days for community care), by major care categories, and ranked medical center lists; annual reports must include four-quarter aggregates, improvement steps, and an estimated date for full compliance. All reports must be posted publicly on a Veterans Health Administration website.
Requires the VA to set a referral-to-appointment timing standard, publish it publicly, and provide quarterly and annual performance reports with facility- and service-level breakdowns.
Introduced April 6, 2026 by Scott Franklin · Last progress April 6, 2026