Veterans Community Care Scheduling Improvement Act

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3482, the Veterans Community Care Scheduling Improvement Act, as amended.

One of the biggest concerns I hear from veterans is that it takes too long to get an appointment, whether at VA or through community care. As is the case with many things at VA, outdated and cumbersome technology makes it very difficult to schedule appointments. In addition, there are not enough requirements for community providers to make their schedules available in an electronic format to make it easier for VA schedulers to check availability.

The Veterans Community Care Scheduling Improvement Act, as amended, is a solid step forward toward fixing issues that have plagued the Veterans Health Administration since before the Phoenix wait-time scandal in 2014. Veterans deserve timely access to care whether that is at VA or in the community, and it is our responsibility to ensure that they get it.

The system authorized by H.R. 3482 would leverage technology to allow VA schedulers to see community care providers' schedules and book appointments directly into them, streamlining the process and allowing them to get booked days or weeks faster.

The bill also requires that VA use this technology to view VA's direct care appointments as well as the community care, giving veterans an apples-to-apples comparison of first available appointments. This crucial new ability will allow veterans to make an informed choice about where they wish to receive their care.

While I believe that the system authorized by this act could have a substantial impact on veterans' access to timely care, I am concerned that it will only be as good as VA's ability to recruit community care providers to participate. I think there should be more requirements in the VA's community care network contracts to mandate community provider participation.

The ongoing procurement of the next-generation contract will be an opportunity to do just that. The VA must also ensure that there is buy- in from all levels of the organization because technology is only as good as its implementation and adoption. However, I will say that this is a good first step in that direction.

I thank Representative Barrett and Representative Budzinski for their work on this bill, and I urge my colleagues to support it.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 3482, the Veterans Community Care Scheduling Improvement Act, as amended, and I yield back the balance of my time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source