II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1656 

To modify the transition period between care and services provided under 

the Veterans Choice Program and care and services provided under 

the Veterans Community Care Program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 23 (legislative day, MAY 22), 2019 

Mr. MANCHIN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To modify the transition period between care and services 

provided under the Veterans Choice Program and care 

and services provided under the Veterans Community 

Care Program, 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 ‘‘Veterans Affairs Sav5 ing Network Appointments From Upheaval Act’’ or the 

6 ‘‘VA SNAFU Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) The Veterans Health Administration is the 

2 largest integrated health care system in the United 

3 States, providing care at approximately 1,250 health 

4 care facilities, including 172 medical centers and 

5 1,069 outpatient sites of care of varying complexity 

6 (referred to as outpatient clinics), and serving ap7 proximately 9,000,000 veterans each year. 

8 (2) On June 6, 2018, the John S. McCain III, 

9 Daniel K. Akaka, and Samuel R. Johnson VA Main10 taining Internal Systems and Strengthening Inte11 grated Outside Networks Act of 2018 or the VA 

12 MISSION Act of 2018 (Public Law 115–182) was 

13 signed into law, establishing a new permanent Vet14 erans Community Care Program to replace the cur15 rent Veterans Choice Program under section 101 of 

16 the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act 

17 of 2014 (Public Law 113–146; 38 U.S.C. 1701 

18 note). 

19 (3) Section 7330C of title 38, United States 

20 Code, as added by section 106 of the VA Mission 

21 Act of 2018, requires the Department of Veterans 

22 Affairs to conduct market assessments of community 

23 care. 

24 (4) Those assessments assess, among other fac25 tors, the following: 


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1 (A) The demand for health care from the 

2 Department. 

3 (B) The capacity of the Department to 

4 provide health care. 

5 (C) The capacity of providers under the 

6 Veterans Community Care Program. 

7 (D) The capacity of academic affiliates and 

8 other Federal partners that provide health care 

9 to veterans. 

10 (5) Proposed access standards for the Veterans 

11 Community Care Program, including a never-before12 tested drive-time standard, were released by the De13 partment in January 2019 and could impact half of 

14 all veterans enrolled in the patient enrollment sys15 tem of the Department. 

16 (6) The market assessments described in para17 graph (3) have not been completed by the Depart18 ment, so veterans using the new Veterans Commu19 nity Care Program will not have a full picture of 

20 whether care in the community is as good or better 

21 than care at facilities of the Department. 


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1 SEC. 3. MODIFICATION OF TRANSITION FROM VETERANS 

2 CHOICE PROGRAM TO VETERANS COMMU3 NITY CARE PROGRAM. 

4 (a) EFFECTIVE DATE OF VETERANS COMMUNITY

5 CARE PROGRAM.—Subsection (b) of section 101 of the 

6 Caring for Our Veterans Act of 2018 (title I of Public 

7 Law 115–182) is amended to read as follows: 

8 ‘‘(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Section 1703 of title 38, 

9 United States Code, as amended by subsection (a), shall 

10 take effect on the date on which the first market area as11 sessment under section 7330C of title 38, United States 

12 Code, as added by section 106(a) of this Act, is com13 pleted.’’. 

14 (b) CONTINUATION OF VETERANS CHOICE PRO15 GRAM.—Subsection (p) of section 101 of the Veterans Ac16 cess, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 (Public Law 

17 113–146; 38 U.S.C. 1701 note) is amended to read as 

18 follows: 

19 ‘‘(p) AUTHORITY TO FURNISH CARE AND SERV20 ICES.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para22 graph (2), the Secretary may not use the authority 

23 under this section to furnish care and services after 

24 June 6, 2019. 

25 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—The Secretary may use the 

26 authority under this section to furnish care and 


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1 services after the date specified in paragraph (1) to 

2 the extent necessary to provide care and services to 

3 eligible veterans until the Secretary has entered into 

4 contracts to provide care and services to such eligi5 ble veterans under section 1703 of title 38, United 

6 States Code, as in effect on the date specified in sec7 tion 101(b) of the Caring for Our Veterans Act of 

8 2018 (title I of Public Law 115–182).’’. 

Æ 


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