Cotton Joins Colleagues in Introducing Bipartisan Legislation to Improve Veterans’ Access to Timely Care

Contact: Caroline Rabbitt (202) 224-2353

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) today joined Senators John Cornyn (R-Texas), Bill Nelson (D-Florida), Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) in introducing legislation to improve veterans' access to timely health care. The Veterans' Health Care Integrity Act would ensure the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) complies with its own veteran health care appointment scheduling policies by making annual certification a statutory requirement.

"No senior staff should be getting bonuses while veterans wait for months to get essential care. And Congress needs to take a stronger hand in picking the people who run the VA if we're finally going to fix it," said Senator Cotton. "This legislation should cut through the bureaucracy and provide real accountability to the veterans who need it."

The Veterans' Health Care Integrity Act would require each VA medical center director to annually certify compliance with the scheduling directive enacted in 2016 which provides explicit guidelines and timetables for appointment scheduling in the Veterans Health Administration. Should the facility be unable to certify compliance with the directive, or any subsequent directives, the facility Director must submit to the VA Secretary explaining why to be included in the annual report submitted to the House and Senate VA Committees that list compliant and non-compliant facilities. The legislation would also prohibit the VA from waiving this certification requirement at any point in the future.

Additionally, the legislation strengthens accountability mechanisms to ensure facility directors and other senior VA officials are focused on delivering timely service to veterans by forbidding VA Medical Center Directors, Chiefs of Staff, Associate Directors, Associate Directors for Patient Care, and Deputy Chiefs of Staff from receiving awards or bonuses if their facility fail to certify compliance. The Veterans' Health Care Integrity Act would also make six additional senior VA positions subject to Senate confirmation.