I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4626 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to require an independent assessment 
of health care delivery systems and management processes of the Depart-
ment of Veterans Affairs be conducted once every 10 years, and for 
other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 22, 2021 
Mr. BERGMAN (for himself and Mr. BOST) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
A BILL 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to require an inde-
pendent assessment of health care delivery systems and 
management processes of the Department of Veterans 
Affairs be conducted once every 10 years, and for other 
purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘VA Assessment by 
Independent Measures Act’’ or the ‘‘VA AIM Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT FOR ONGOING INDEPENDENT AS-
SESSMENTS OF HEALTH CARE DELIVERY SYS-
TEMS AND MANAGEMENT PROCESSES OF 
THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 
(a) ONGOING ASSESSMENTS.—Chapter 17 of title 38, 
United States Code, is amended by inserting after section 
1704 the following the new section: 
‘‘§ 1704A. Independent assessments of health care de-
livery systems and management proc-
esses 
‘‘(a) INDEPENDENT ASSESSMENTS.—Not less fre-
quently than once every 10 years, the Secretary of Vet-
erans Affairs shall enter into one or more contracts with 
a private sector entity or entities described in subsection 
(e) to conduct an independent assessment of the hospital 
care, medical services, and other health care furnished by 
the Department of Veterans Affairs. Such assessment 
shall address each of the following: 
‘‘(1) Current and projected demographics and 
unique health care needs of the patient population 
served by the Department. 
‘‘(2) The accuracy of models and forecasting 
methods used by the Department to project health 
care demand, including with respect to veteran de-
mographics, rates of use of health care furnished by 
the Department, the inflation of health care costs, 
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and such other factors as may be determined rel-
evant by the Secretary. 
‘‘(3) Budgetary trends of the Department af-
fecting the provision of health care to veterans, in-
cluding a review of current and projected health care 
capabilities, resources, and needs of the Department 
and of the reliability and accuracy of models and 
forecasting methods used by the Department to 
project the budgetary needs of the Veterans Health 
Administration. 
‘‘(4) The authorities and mechanisms under 
which the Secretary may furnish hospital care, med-
ical services, and other health care at non-Depart-
ment facilities, including through Federal and pri-
vate sector partners and at joint medical facilities. 
‘‘(5) The appropriate system-wide access appli-
cable to hospital care, medical services, and other 
health care furnished by and through the Depart-
ment, including an identification of the appropriate 
access for each individual specialty and post-care re-
habilitation with respect to veterans and eligible 
non-veterans. 
‘‘(6) The workflow process at each medical fa-
cility of the Department for scheduling appointments 
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