‘‘(B) A treatment program must be accredited 
under either the Joint Commission Behavioral 
Health Standards or the Behavioral Health Stand-
ards manual (residential treatment) of the Commis-
sion on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities, or 
any successor standards or manual. 
‘‘(2) If a program or facility to which a covered vet-
eran is to be referred pursuant to subsection (d)(1)(F) 
does not meet the standards specified under paragraph 
(1), the Secretary, acting through the director of the facil-
ity of the Department carrying out the referral— 
‘‘(A) shall consider an alternate program or fa-
cility; and 
‘‘(B) may waive such standards on an indi-
vidual basis if no other alternate program or facility 
is available or such waiver is in the best interest of 
the veteran.’’. 
(b) MODIFICATION
OF ACCESS STANDARDS.—Not 
later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall develop or 
amend existing access standards of the Department of 
Veterans Affairs to ensure that access to mental health 
care under the Veterans Community Care Program under 
section 1703 of title 38, United States Code, as amended 
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by subsection (a), is not more restrictive than the access 
standards for specialty care under such section. 
SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN LIMITATIONS ON AC-
CESS OF VETERANS TO CARE. 
Section 1703(n) of title 38, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following new para-
graphs: 
‘‘(3) In applying wait times or access standards 
under this section for purposes of determining eligibility 
of a covered veteran for care or services under this section, 
the Secretary may not determine that the veteran is ineli-
gible for such care or services due solely to the fact that 
health care providers specified in subsection (c) are unable 
to provide such care or services in compliance with such 
wait times or access standards. 
‘‘(4) If multiple options are available to a covered vet-
eran for care or services under this section, the Secretary 
shall permit the veteran to elect the option that the vet-
eran prefers.’’. 
SEC. 5. DEVELOPMENT OF COMMUNITY CARE METRICS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1703(m)(1) of title 38, 
United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 
following new subparagraph: 
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‘‘(C) The review submitted under subparagraph (A) 
shall include, for the year covered by the review, the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(i) The number of instances of care or services 
requested. 
‘‘(ii) The number of such requests that were ap-
proved. 
‘‘(iii) The number of such requests that were 
denied. 
‘‘(iv) The number of appeals under subsection 
(f) of such requests that were denied, including the 
final decision of such appeal. 
‘‘(v) The eligibility criteria under which each el-
igible veteran has qualified for care or services under 
this section. 
‘‘(vi) Data with respect to the following: 
‘‘(I) Requests for care or services relating 
to mental health. 
‘‘(II) Authorizations for emergency care, 
including whether transportation for such care 
was required or whether further care or a hos-
pital stay was required.’’. 
(b) APPLICATION.—The amendment made by sub-
section (a) shall apply to each review conducted under sub-
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paragraph (A) of such section after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act. 
SEC. 6. LIMITATION ON MODIFICATION OF COMMUNITY 
CARE ACCESS STANDARDS. 
Any modification on or after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs of 
the conditions under which care is required to be provided 
under section 1703(d) of title 38, United States Code, ei-
ther through a modification of the designated access 
standards under paragraph (1)(D) of such section, a 
modification of the criteria developed by the Secretary 
under paragraph (1)(E) of such section, or otherwise 
through regulation, shall not take effect until a joint reso-
lution is enacted approving such modification to the condi-
tions under which care is required to be provided under 
such section. 
Æ 
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