I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8412 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish goals for the timely 

delivery of medical care and appointments, to make publicly available 

certain information regarding wait times under the community care program of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 29, 2020 

Ms. BROWNLEY of California introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish goals 

for the timely delivery of medical care and appointments, 

to make publicly available certain information regarding 

wait times under the community care program of the 

Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘VA Community Care 

5 Wait Time Transparency Act of 2020’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS GOAL FOR 

2 TIMELY DELIVERY OF APPOINTMENTS. 

3 The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall establish a 

4 goal for the maximum number of calendar days between 

5 the date on which a veteran requests an appointment for 

6 medical care and the date on which such appointment oc7 curs. Such goal shall be the equivalent of the wait time 

8 access standard in effect under section 1703B of title 38, 

9 United States Code, and shall apply— 

10 (1) to medical care furnished by Department of 

11 Veterans Affairs providers and medical care fur12 nished by the Department of Veterans Affairs 

13 through a non-Department provider; and 

14 (2) with respect to veterans who are considered 

15 new patients and veterans who are considered re16 turning patients. 

17 SEC. 3. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS TRANS18 PARENCY REGARDING WAIT TIMES UNDER 

19 COMMUNITY CARE PROGRAM. 

20 (a) PUBLICATION OF DATA.—Not later than 90 days 

21 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

22 of Veterans Affairs shall make publicly available on an ap23 propriate website of the Department of Veterans Affairs 

24 the following information: 

25 (1) The average wait times for new and return26 ing patients seeking care under the community care 


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1 program of the Department, determined using the 

2 same metrics used to determine the published aver3 age wait times for care furnished directly by Depart4 ment medical facilities. 

5 (2) The percentage of appointments for care 

6 under the community care program that occur with7 in the number of days specified for the wait time ac8 cess standard applicable to Department of Veterans 

9 Affairs providers, as in effect under section 1703B 

10 of title 38, United States Code. 

11 (b) PRESENTATION OF DATA.—Data made available 

12 under subsection (a) shall— 

13 (1) be presented in a searchable format, by zip 

14 code and by medical specialty; and 

15 (2) be presented alongside comparable data for 

16 all Department medical centers and all medical spe17 cialties. 

Æ 


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