Sponsors (89)
Introduced January 28, 2025 by Mike Bost · Last progress January 28, 2025
The bill strengthens veterans’ timely access to community and mental‑health care and increases oversight and transparency, but at the cost of higher taxpayer spending, heavier administrative and staffing burdens, and potential gaps or inconsistent application during implementation.
Veterans gain clearer, enforceable access standards and faster routes to community care (defined wait‑time and drive‑time targets, priority admission rules, and options to use accredited non‑VA facilities), increasing timely access to primary, specialty, and residential mental health/SUD care.
Veterans and their clinicians will experience better continuity and coordination of care through required medical record transfer, interim and discharge care plans, TBI screening, and shared treatment plans between VA and community providers.
Veterans get faster notice, clearer appeal information, and digital tools to request appointments, track referrals, receive reminders, and appeal denials—improving transparency and the ability to navigate decisions about community care.
Taxpayers face higher costs as expanded use of community and contracted providers, new monitoring, reporting, and program requirements increase VA spending and administrative overhead.
VA staffing and operational resources will be strained by strict appointment, screening, appeal, and reporting timelines, risking diverted resources from other VA services and implementation shortfalls that could delay care.
Increased administrative and credentialing burdens on community providers and VA staff could reduce provider participation, raise costs, and divert clinician time from direct patient care.
Based on analysis of 6 sections of legislative text.
Sets statutory access standards, provider-network and credentialing rules for VA community care, rapid screening/admission for residential treatment, and requires a veteran-facing online scheduling and appeals module.
Establishes firm, statutory access standards and administrative rules for Veterans Affairs community care and residential treatment programs, and requires an interactive online portal for veterans to request and track care. It sets specific drive-time and appointment wait-time targets for primary, mental-health, specialty, and extended care; requires VA to maintain provider networks, credentialing, prior-authorization and appeals timelines, notice and data-sharing rules; creates a standardized 48-hour clinical screening and 48-hour admission timeline for priority admission to covered residential mental health and substance-use programs; and directs the Secretary to implement a veteran-facing online self-service module and to identify related budget needs as a discrete budget line item.