HR 8199
Schedules act of 2026
Schedules Act of 2026
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Bill overview
This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to create a standard for how long it should take between when a veteran is referred for care and when they receive an appointment, whether at a VA facility or through community providers. The VA must publish this standard and regularly report to Congress on how well they are meeting it, including data on referral timeliness and facility performance. This aims to improve the speed of care for veterans.
Key provisions
- The VA must establish a standard for the time between a referral and an appointment.
- The standard can be updated as appointment scheduling processes change.
- The standard must be published in the Federal Register and on the VA website.
- The VA must submit quarterly reports to Congress on referral timeliness.
- Reports must include data on the percentage of referrals meeting the standard.
- Reports must break down data by care category and VA facility.
- VA facilities will be ranked based on their adherence to the standard.
- Annual reports will include data for the previous four quarters and plans for improvement.
Who is affected
- Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
- Veterans
- VA medical facilities
- Community healthcare providers
- Congress
Notable changes
- Requires the VA to actively monitor and report on appointment scheduling times.
Sponsors
Official sponsors from legislative records.
Primary sponsor
Cosponsors
James C. [R-GU-At Large] Moylan
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119th CONGRESS — 2d Session
H. R. 8199
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
A BILL
To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a comprehensive standard for timing between referrals and appointments for care from the Department of Veterans Affairs and to submit a report with respect to that standard, and for other purposes.
This Act may be cited as the Scheduling for Community Health and Easy Data to Understand for Legislators to Evaluate Services Act of 2026 SCHEDULES Act of 2026
or the
.
The Secretary may modify the standard established under paragraph (1) as the appointment scheduling processes of the Department for care at a facility of the Department or through care in the community are updated.
Not later than 30 days before establishing under paragraph (1) or modifying under paragraph (2) the comprehensive standard required under this subsection, the Secretary shall publish such standard in the Federal Register and on a publicly available internet website of the Department.
Each report submitted under paragraph (1) shall include the following:
the standard under subsection (a);
with respect to referrals to a facility of the Department, the three-business-day standard for scheduling an appointment at a facility of the Department; and
with respect to referrals for care in the community, the seven-calendar-day standard for scheduling an appointment for care in the community.
The number and percentage of referrals from each facility of the Department that meet each of the standards specified in subparagraph (A), disaggregated by each of the five, or more, most in-demand categories of care provided at such facility (such as mental health, cardiology, neurology, oncology, etc.).
A list of all medical centers of the Department ranked from best to worst in meeting the standard under subsection (a), including a disaggregated list by State.
Not less frequently than annually, the Secretary shall include in the report required under paragraph (1)—
a description of steps taken by the Department to improve the timeliness of the provision of care by the Department and an estimate of when the Department will be fully compliant with the standard under subsection (a).
The Secretary shall make each report required under paragraph (1) publicly available on a website of the Veterans Health Administration.