Sponsor
Jerry Moran
Senator · R-KS
Senator · R-KS
The bill expands tailored preventive care, access to advanced assistive technologies, and telehealth support for veterans with spinal cord injuries — improving detection and function — but raises costs and creates safety and governance risks that require strong safeguards and careful metric design to avoid harms or superficial compliance.
Veterans with spinal cord injuries will receive an annual, SCI/D‑tailored preventive health evaluation, improving early detection and management of complications.
Veterans and people with disabilities gain greater access to assessments and prescriptions for assistive technologies (including neuromodulation and powered exoskeletons), increasing mobility and functional independence for eligible users.
Veterans — especially in rural communities — can get training, programming, and remote monitoring for devices via VA telehealth, reducing travel burden and improving ongoing device safety and care.
Some veterans may be exposed to invasive implantable devices or neuromodulation with significant risks if eligibility criteria, training, and safeguards are not rigorous and consistently applied.
Expanding annual evaluations, device services, and telehealth support will increase VA program costs, which could affect budgeting priorities and potentially raise pressures on taxpayers or other VA services.
Tying performance to VISN metrics and imposing reporting requirements could encourage superficial compliance and box‑checking rather than meaningful quality improvements if metrics are poorly designed or implemented.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Requires VA to offer annual preventive evaluations to veterans with spinal cord injury/disorder and report on assistive technology assessment, prescriptions, and outcomes, including neuromodulation.
Official title: Amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to offer annual preventative health evaluations to veterans with a spinal cord injury or disorder and increase access to assistive technologies, and for other purposes.
Introduced March 4, 2026 by Jerry Moran · Last progress March 4, 2026
Requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to offer an annual preventive health evaluation (in-person, by referral, or by VA telehealth) to any veteran with a spinal cord injury or disorder who chooses it. The evaluation must cover risk factors, chronic pain and management, diet/weight, prosthetic and assistive technology needs (including powered mobility, exoskeletons, speech devices, and spinal cord neuromodulation), and the VA must consult specialists, manufacturers, and certain stakeholder organizations and report to Congress on use and outcomes.