Sponsors (7)
The bill expands local patient advocates to improve rural veterans' access and problem resolution, but it may raise VA costs and produce uneven coverage depending on how broadly "practicable" is interpreted.
Rural veterans will get local patient advocates at community-based outpatient clinics, improving access to help with care problems, speeding issue resolution, and reducing travel burdens.
Congress will receive GAO evaluation and oversight data on implementation, enabling accountability and potential improvements in how the program is run.
Some rural veterans may still lack timely local access to patient advocates because the requirement is qualified by "to the extent practicable," risking uneven implementation across areas.
Implementing and staffing patient advocates at rural clinics will increase VA operating costs, which may require reallocating funds or raise costs for taxpayers.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires the VA to ensure rural veterans can access patient advocate services and, where practicable, assign advocates to rural CBOCs, with implementation and GAO-report deadlines.
Introduced March 11, 2025 by John Moolenaar · Last progress March 11, 2025
Requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to ensure rural veterans can access patient advocate services and, when practicable, assign patient advocates to rural community-based outpatient clinics (CBOCs). The VA must put this requirement into effect within two years of the law taking effect, and the Government Accountability Office must report to the House and Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committees on how the VA implemented the requirement within two years of enactment.