I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4971 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct annual surveys of 

veterans on experiences obtaining hospital care and medical services 

from medical facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 25, 2014 

Mr. O’ROURKE (for himself, Mr. FLORES, Ms. GABBARD, Mr. HORSFORD, Mr. 

ISRAEL, Mr. JOLLY, Mr. MICHAUD, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. SWALWELL of 

California, Ms. HANABUSA, Ms. HAHN, and Mr. THOMPSON 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 conduct annual 

surveys of veterans on experiences obtaining hospital care 

and medical services from medical facilities 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 ‘‘Ask Veterans Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SURVEY OF VETERAN EXPERIENCES WITH DEPART2 MENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS MEDICAL 

3 CARE. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

5 shall seek to enter into a contract with a non-government 

6 entity with significant experience conducting scientifically 

7 verifiable surveys and research to conduct an annual sur8 vey of a statistically significant sample of veterans who 

9 reside in the geographic area served by each of the medical 

10 facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs to deter11 mine the nature of the experiences of such veterans in ob12 taining hospital care and medical services furnished by the 

13 Secretary at each such medical facility. Each such survey 

14 shall be conducted using scientific and verifiable methods. 

15 Such contract shall provide that the non-government enti16 ty shall conduct such annual surveys during the five-year 

17 period beginning on the date on which the Secretary en18 ters into the contract with the non-government entity. 

19 (b) CONTENTS.—The contract entered into under 

20 subsection (a) shall provide that each survey conducted 

21 pursuant to the contract shall be specific to a medical fa22 cility of the Department and shall include questions relat23 ing to the experiences of veterans in requesting and receiv24 ing appointments for hospital care and medical services 

25 furnished by the Secretary at that medical facility, includ26 ing questions relating to each of the following: 


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1 (1) The veteran’s ability to obtain hospital care 

2 and medical services at the facility in a timely man3 ner. 

4 (2) The period of time between the date on 

5 which the veteran requests an appointment at the 

6 facility and the date on which the appointment is 

7 scheduled. 

8 (3) The frequency with which scheduled ap9 pointments are cancelled by the facility. 

10 (4) The quality of hospital care or medical serv11 ices the veteran has received at the facility. 

12 (c) CONSULTATION.—The contract entered into 

13 under subsection (a) shall provide that in designing and 

14 conducting the surveys for each medical facility of the De15 partment pursuant to such contract, the non-government 

16 entity shall consult with veterans service organizations. 

17 (d) CERTIFICATION.—The contract entered into 

18 under subsection (a) shall provide that— 

19 (1) before conducting a survey pursuant to the 

20 contract, the non-government entity shall submit the 

21 proposed survey to the Comptroller General who 

22 shall assess whether the survey is scientifically valid 

23 and whether the proposed sample size of veterans to 

24 be surveyed is statistically significant; and 


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1 (2) the non-government entity may not conduct 

2 such a survey until the Comptroller General provides 

3 such a certification for the survey. 

4 (e) SUBMITTAL OF RESULTS AND PUBLIC AVAIL5 ABILITY OF INFORMATION.—Not later than 30 days after 

6 the completion of the surveys conducted pursuant to a 

7 contract entered into under subsection (a) for a year, the 

8 Secretary shall make the results of the surveys publicly 

9 available on the Internet website of the Department. 

10 (f) PAPERWORK REDUCTION.—Subchapter I of chap11 ter 35 of title 44, United States Code shall not apply to 

12 this section. 

13 (g) DEADLINE FOR IMPLEMENTATION.—The Sec14 retary shall enter into a contract under subsection (a) for 

15 each medical facility of the Department by not later than 

16 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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