Sponsors (10)
The bill improves detection, planning, and veteran access to ALS research by leveraging the CDC registry and requiring gap analyses, but imposes administrative costs, potential funding needs, and raises veterans' health-data privacy concerns.
Veterans with or at risk for ALS will have more accurate case identification and a clearer picture of disease burden because the VA will use the CDC ALS registry and must report on gaps and needs, enabling better VA planning and potential expansion of services.
Veterans receiving care at VA clinics will have increased opportunity to join VA-sponsored clinical trials due to a required strategy to enroll clinic patients, improving access to research and potential treatments.
Taxpayers and VA budgets could face additional costs if the report's recommendations lead to expanded programs or services, requiring new funding or reallocation of existing VA resources.
Veterans' privacy could be affected because stronger surveillance and cross-system data sharing with the CDC registry increases risks around health data confidentiality and consent.
VA and CDC will incur administrative and staff time burdens to prepare reports and maintain tracking, which could divert resources and staff attention away from direct care delivery.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires VA, with CDC consultation, to report veterans' ALS incidence/prevalence to Congress within 1 year, use the CDC ALS registry for tracking, and provide updates every 3 years.
Requires the Department of Veterans Affairs, working with the CDC, to report to Congress on how common ALS is among veterans and how the departments are tracking and supporting those veterans. The VA must use the CDC’s ALS registry/biorepository to track prevalence, deliver an initial report within one year, provide an update within three years, and then provide updates every three years thereafter.
Introduced November 10, 2025 by Jason Crow · Last progress November 10, 2025