Improving Veteran Access to Care Act
Latest action · Dec 19, 2025 Held at the desk.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedFeb 18, 2025
- Passed SenateDec 18, 2025
- Passed HouseNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Improving Veteran Access to Care Act
This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to establish an integrated project team to improve the process for scheduling VA health care appointments. Among other objectives, the team must (1) develop or continue the development of a scheduling system and platform that enables personnel and patients of the VA to view available appointments for VA care, (2) create a process through which patients can telephonically speak with a scheduler who can assist in determining availability and scheduling, and (3) carry out other functions with respect to health care appointments furnished by the VA.
In carrying out its objectives, the team must consult and coordinate with the deployment schedule and capabilities of the VA’s Electronic Health Record Modernization Program.
If the VA determines a required objective or any feature or service in connection with an objective cannot be implemented or incorporated, the VA must report to Congress providing an explanation and setting forth a plan without that objective.
The VA must also report to Congress on the progress in fulfilling the team’s objectives under the bill.
Cosponsors 3
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Feb 18, 2025 to Dec 2, 2025; 1 is an original cosponsor, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| R-AR | John Boozman | Original | Feb 18, 2025 |
| R-KS | Jerry Moran | Dec 2, 2025 | |
| D-CT | Richard Blumenthal | Dec 2, 2025 |
Committees 1
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| Senate | Veterans' Affairs Committee | Referred Feb 18, 2025Hearings Mar 11, 2025Markup Jul 30, 2025Reported Dec 2, 2025 |
Actions 10
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Dec 19, 2025Message on Senate action sent to the House.
- Dec 19, 2025Received in the House.
- Dec 19, 2025Held at the desk.
- Dec 18, 2025Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate with an amendment and an amendment to the Title by Unanimous Consent. (consideration: CR S8898-8899; text: CR S8898-8899)
- Dec 2, 2025Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Reported by Senator Moran with an amendment in the nature of a substitute and an amendment to the title. Without written report.
- Dec 2, 2025Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 272.
- Jul 30, 2025Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
- Mar 11, 2025Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 119-35.
- Feb 18, 2025Introduced in Senate
- Feb 18, 2025Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
In the Congressional Record 1
Days the Record’s own index lists this bill, newest first, with the pages and the members it names. Pages starting H are the House, S the Senate, E Extensions of Remarks.
| Where | In the Record | Members | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Senate | Debate and remarks S8898, S8899Amendments S8898 | John Thune R-SD | Dec 18, 2025 |
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Congressional Budget Office cost estimate
- Nov 6, 2025S. 607, Improving Veterans Access to Care ActAs ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs on July 30, 2025
Related bills 3
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| S 4744 | Take Care of America’s Veterans Act | Related bill | Jun 11, 2026 |
| S 5624 | Improving Veteran Access to Care Act | Cross-Congress related bill | Dec 19, 2024 |
| HR 9237 | Take Care of America’s Veterans Act | Related bill | Jul 16, 2026 |
Titles 5
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- A bill to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish an integrated project team to improve the process for scheduling appointments for health care from the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.
- Official Titles as Amended by Senate
- A bill to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish and implement a plan to improve the process for scheduling appointments for health care from the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.
- Short Title(s) as Introduced
- Improving Veteran Access to Care Act
- Short Title(s) as Reported to Senate
- Improving Veteran Access to Care Act
- Short Title(s) as Passed Senate
- Improving Veteran Access to Care Act
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security.
Text 3
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Dec 18, 2025Engrossed in Senate
- Dec 2, 2025Reported to Senate
- Feb 18, 2025Introduced in Senate
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
