S. 3603 · 117th Congress
Veterans Health Care Freedom Act
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Never voted on. It didn't reach a floor vote before the 117th Congress ended, so it expired. A bill has to be introduced again to be considered in a new Congress.
R
BlackburnSponsor4 cosponsors · 4 R
1 signed on when it was introduced; the rest joined later. Cosponsors who withdrew aren't shown.
This bill requires the Center for Innovation for Care and Payment within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to implement a three-year pilot program to improve the ability of veterans who are enrolled in the VA health care system to access hospital care, medical services, and extended care services through the covered care system by providing such…
What it does: CRS summary · Introduced in Senate · Feb 8, 2022
Veterans Health Care Freedom Act
This bill requires the Center for Innovation for Care and Payment within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to implement a three-year pilot program to improve the ability of veterans who are enrolled in the VA health care system to access hospital care, medical services, and extended care services through the covered care system by providing such veterans with the ability to choose health care providers. Under the bill, the covered care system includes VA medical facilities, health care providers participating in the Veterans Community Care Program (VCCP), and eligible entities or providers that have entered into a Veterans Care Agreement.
A veteran participating in the program may elect to receive care at any provider in the covered care system.
The pilot program removes certain requirements (e.g., location of the veteran) to access care at VA and non-VA facilities. After four years, the bill eliminates the requirements for accessing care under the VCCP and Veterans Care Agreements and requires the VA to provide such care under the same conditions of the pilot program. Additionally, after four years, veterans may receive care at a VA medical facility regardless of whether the facility is in the same Veterans Integrated Service Network as the veteran.
Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov
About this bill and sources
Official title: Veterans Health Care Freedom Act
Latest action (Feb 8, 2022): Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security · Origin: Senate · Introduced: Feb 8, 2022
Official page on Congress.gov · Bill text (GovInfo) · Status record (XML)
No recorded floor vote found.