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 pro-
gram 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. 
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 Community Care 
Wait Time Transparency Act of 2020’’. 
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SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS GOAL FOR 
TIMELY DELIVERY OF APPOINTMENTS. 
The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall establish a 
goal for the maximum number of calendar days between 
the date on which a veteran requests an appointment for 
medical care and the date on which such appointment oc-
curs. Such goal shall be the equivalent of the wait time 
access standard in effect under section 1703B of title 38, 
United States Code, and shall apply— 
(1) to medical care furnished by Department of 
Veterans Affairs providers and medical care fur-
nished by the Department of Veterans Affairs 
through a non-Department provider; and 
(2) with respect to veterans who are considered 
new patients and veterans who are considered re-
turning patients. 
SEC. 3. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS TRANS-
PARENCY REGARDING WAIT TIMES UNDER 
COMMUNITY CARE PROGRAM. 
(a) PUBLICATION OF DATA.—Not later than 90 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 
of Veterans Affairs shall make publicly available on an ap-
propriate website of the Department of Veterans Affairs 
the following information: 
(1) The average wait times for new and return-
ing patients seeking care under the community care 
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program of the Department, determined using the 
same metrics used to determine the published aver-
age wait times for care furnished directly by Depart-
ment medical facilities. 
(2) The percentage of appointments for care 
under the community care program that occur with-
in the number of days specified for the wait time ac-
cess standard applicable to Department of Veterans 
Affairs providers, as in effect under section 1703B 
of title 38, United States Code. 
(b) PRESENTATION OF DATA.—Data made available 
under subsection (a) shall— 
(1) be presented in a searchable format, by zip 
code and by medical specialty; and 
(2) be presented alongside comparable data for 
all Department medical centers and all medical spe-
cialties. 
Æ 
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