Veterans Freedom of Healthcare Act

Summary: Veterans Freedom of Healthcare Act This bill amends the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 to make the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Choice Program permanent. (The program allows the furnishing of hospital care and medical services to eligible veterans through agreements with non-VA entities.) Program eligibility requirements are revised.  The VA shall ensure that veterans enrolled in the health care system, particularly those with service-connected disabilities rated 50% or greater, are able to receive:    health care at VA medical facilities within certain wait-time goals; and   the highest degree of care possible, with an emphasis on maintaining the highest degree of quality in treating ailments unique to or prevalent among the veteran population, including mental health services. 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Veterans Freedom of Healthcare 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) All veterans who have signed up to put their life on 
        the line for the lives and liberty of the people of the United 
        States deserve the opportunity to seek health care at a 
        facility of their choice, regardless of arbitrary distance and 
        wait-time thresholds.
            (2) Logistical impediments to veterans receiving health 
        care at medical facilities of the Veterans Health 
        Administration of the Department of Veterans Affairs, including 
        with respect to travel, wait times, and enrollment difficulty, 
        have been found to exist across all demographics of veterans 
        and are widely cited among the most common barriers to 
        receiving the health care the veterans earned.
            (3) As a result of widespread reporting on such 
        impediments, including regarding the death of 40 veterans who 
        died while waiting for health care at the Phoenix Veterans' 
        Hospital, in 2014 Congress investigated the matter and 
        confirmed that such impediments were pervasive and systemic.
            (4) As of September 30, 2014, there were approximately 
        867,000 applications by veterans to enroll in the health care 
        system of the Department, and the Inspector General of the 
        Department could not determine how long more than half of the 
        applications had been pending.
            (5) The Secretary of Veterans Affairs has been unable to 
        meet the modest goal of employing one psychiatrist per 1,000 
        individual mental health patients of the Department.
            (6) The Inspector General found that approximately 70 
        percent of the hospitals of the Department in 2014 did not have 
        enough psychiatrists to meet demand.
            (7) The Inspector General found that a significant 
        proportion of the psychiatrists of the Department saw in excess 
        of 800 to 900 veterans per year and some veterans were only 
        seen once per year because of the demand.
            (8) A study by the National Institutes of Health identified 
        the lack of available female-specific medical services and wait 
        times as key barriers to female veterans seeking health care at 
        medical facilities of the Department.
            (9) The Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 
        2014 (Public Law 113-146) made great strides toward providing 
        veterans with more flexibility to seek health care in the 
        setting of choice by the veteran, however, the metrics 
        established by the Act to determine which veterans were 
        eligible for such flexibility are insufficient.
            (10) Other impediments to veterans receiving health care at 
        medical facilities of the Department can include long commutes 
        on group transport, or having to cross bridges or State lines 
        to receive care.
            (11) Many veterans like the health care provided by the 
        Department and the hospitals of the Department hold particular 
        expertise in treating ailments of veterans.
            (12) Veterans should have the option to stay with the 
        Department if the veteran likes the health care system of the 
        Department.

SEC. 3. EXPANSION OF CHOICE PROGRAM OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.

    (a) Elimination of Sunset.--
            (1) In general.--Section 101 of the Veterans Access, 
        Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 (Public Law 113-146; 38 
        U.S.C. 1701 note) is amended--
                    (A) by striking subsection (p); and
                    (B) by redesignating subsections (q), (r), (s), and 
                (t) as subsections (p), (q), (r), and (s), 
                respectively.
            (2) Conforming amendments.--Such section is amended--
                    (A) in subsection (i)(2), by striking ``during the 
                period in which the Secretary is authorized to carry 
                out this section pursuant to subsection (p)''; and
                    (B) in subsection (p)(2), as redesignated by 
                paragraph (1)(B), by striking subparagraph (F).
    (b) Expansion of Eligibility.--
            (1) In general.--Subsection (b) of such section is amended 
        to read as follows:
    ``(b) Eligible Veterans.--A veteran is an eligible veteran for 
purposes of this section if the veteran is enrolled in the patient 
enrollment system of the Department of Veterans Affairs established and 
operated under section 1705 of title 38, United States Code, including 
any such veteran who has not received hospital care or medical services 
from the Department and has contacted the Department seeking an initial 
appointment from the Department for the receipt of such care or 
services.''.
            (2) Conforming amendments.--Such section is amended--
                    (A) in subsection (c)(1)--
                            (i) in the matter preceding subparagraph 
                        (A), by striking ``In the case of an eligible 
                        veteran described in subsection (b)(2)(A), the 
                        Secretary shall, at the election of the 
                        eligible veteran'' and inserting ``The 
                        Secretary shall, at the election of an eligible 
                        veteran''; and
                            (ii) in subparagraph (A), by striking 
                        ``described in such subsection'' and inserting 
                        ``of the Veterans Health Administration'';
                    (B) in subsection (f)(1), by striking ``subsection 
                (b)(1)'' and inserting ``subsection (b)'';
                    (C) in subsection (g), by striking paragraph (3); 
                and
                    (D) in subsection (p)(2)(A), as redesignated by 
                subsection (a)(1)(B), by striking ``, disaggregated 
                by--'' and all that follows through ``subsection 
                (b)(2)(D)''.
    (c) Provision of Care by the Department.--In carrying out chapter 
17 of title 38, United States Code, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
shall ensure that veterans enrolled in the health care system 
established under section 1705(a) of such title, particularly such 
veterans with service-connected disabilities rated 50 percent or 
greater described in paragraph (1) of such section, are able to 
receive--
            (1) health care at medical facilities of the Department 
        within the wait-time goals described in section 101(c)(1) of 
        the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 
        (Public Law 113-146; 38 U.S.C. 1701 note); and
            (2) the highest degree of quality care possible, with an 
        emphasis on maintaining the highest degree of quality in 
        treating ailments that are unique to or prevalent among the 
        veteran population, including with respect to mental health 
        services.
    (d) Report.--Not later than one year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit 
to Congress a report on the following:
            (1) The efficacy of the Veterans Choice Program established 
        by section 101 of the Veterans Access, Choice, and 
        Accountability Act of 2014 (Public Law 113-146; 38 U.S.C. 1701 
        note) with respect to veterans being able to access the health 
        care required by the veteran, including any recommendations of 
        the Secretary to improve such access.
            (2) The efficacy of the Secretary with respect to ensuring 
        that veterans enrolled in the health care system established 
        under section 1705(a) of title 38, United States Code, who need 
        to or elect to receive health care at medical facilities of the 
        Department are able to receive such care.
    (e) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply with respect to hospital care and medical services furnished 
under such section on and after the date that is 90 days after the date 
of the enactment of this Act.