The VA would be required to establish a comprehensive standard for the time between when a veteran's referral is entered into the VA's care-coordination system and when an appointment is actually scheduled — whether at a VA facility or with a community provider — under a bill from Reps. Scott Franklin of Florida, Panetta, Patronis, and Moylan. The Secretary would publish the standard in the Federal Register and on a public VA website. Quarterly reports to Congress would track each VA medical center's compliance, breaking out the data by category of care (mental health, cardiology, neurology, oncology, etc.) and ranking facilities best to worst. The Veterans Health Administration would publish each report on a public website.
Transparency & Accountability
- VA referral-to-appointment timeliness standard — required, plus quarterly congressional reporting
- Public ranking of VA medical centers — best-to-worst rankings on referral-timeliness compliance required
Congressional Summary
Scheduling for Community Health and Easy Data to Understand for Legislators to Evaluate Services Act of 2026 or the SCHEDULES Act of 2026This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to establish a standard for timing between the date on which a referral for VA care is entered into the VA's system and the date on which an appointment for care occurs, whether at a VA facility or through care in the community.The VA must publish the standard in the Federal Register and on a publicly accessible VA website. Additionally, the VA must submit a report at least quarterly on the number and percentage of referrals that meet the new timing standard.
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- House
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Introduced in House
- Action Date
- 2026-04-06
- Date Added
- 2026-05-07
- Source
- Congress.gov →
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