S654-119

Introduced

To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish an external provider scheduling program to assist the Department of Veterans Affairs in scheduling appointments for care and services under the Veterans Community Care Program, and for other purposes.

119th Congress Introduced Feb 20, 2025

Summary

What This Bill Does

The bill requires external Provider Scheduling Program for VA community care appointments via real-time scheduling technology, requires section 1703H establishing VA External Provider Scheduling Program with real-time technology, contracts, wait-time reduction goals, and annual reporting, and requires restructuring of External Provider Scheduling Program from standalone section 1703H into subsection (q) of existing section 1703, changing language from mandatory establishment to develop-or-procure flexibility. It relies on procurement rules, reporting requirements, and definition changes. The main policy areas are Healthcare, Veterans Affairs, and Technology.

Who Benefits and How

Veterans seeking community care appointments could see lower costs, Health IT scheduling technology vendors could gain revenue opportunities, and Veterans using community care could see lower costs.

Who Bears the Burden and How

Department of Veterans Affairs would take on compliance duties and VA schedulers would take on compliance duties.

Key Provisions

  • Requires external Provider Scheduling Program for VA community care appointments via real-time scheduling technology.
  • Requires section 1703H establishing VA External Provider Scheduling Program with real-time technology, contracts, wait-time reduction goals, and annual reporting.
  • Requires restructuring of External Provider Scheduling Program from standalone section 1703H into subsection (q) of existing section 1703, changing language from mandatory establishment to develop-or-procure flexibility.

Evidence Chain:

This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.

At a Glance

What This Bill Does

The bill requires external Provider Scheduling Program for VA community care appointments via real-time scheduling technology, requires section 1703H establishing VA External Provider Scheduling Program with real-time technology, contracts, wait-time reduction goals, and annual reporting, and requires restructuring of External Provider Scheduling Program from standalone section 1703H into subsection (q) of existing section 1703, changing language from mandatory establishment to develop-or-procure flexibility.

Key Policy Areas

Healthcare, Veterans Affairs, Technology

Primary Purpose

The bill requires external Provider Scheduling Program for VA community care appointments via real-time scheduling technology, requires section 1703H establishing VA External Provider Scheduling Program with real-time technology, contracts, wait-time reduction goals, and annual reporting, and requires restructuring of External Provider Scheduling Program from standalone section 1703H into subsection (q) of existing section 1703, changing language from mandatory establishment to develop-or-procure flexibility.

Policy Domains

Healthcare Veterans Affairs Technology

Whole bill

Identified Gains
  • Veterans seeking community care appointments
  • Health IT scheduling technology vendors
  • Veterans using community care
  • Health IT scheduling technology contractors
  • Community care health providers in VA network
Model: codex-gpt-5:bulk-repair | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: rs
Veterans using community care:
Health IT scheduling technology vendors: ,
Health IT scheduling technology contractors:
Veterans seeking community care appointments: ,
Community care health providers in VA network:
Identified Costs
  • Department of Veterans Affairs
  • VA schedulers
Model: codex-gpt-5:bulk-repair | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: rs
VA schedulers:
Department of Veterans Affairs: ,

Legislative Progress

Introduced
Introduced Committee Passed
Feb 20, 2025

Mr. Moran (for himself, Mrs. Fischer, Mr. Boozman, and Mr. …

Stakeholder Effects

cui bono?

How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.

Healthcare
3 mentions across 3 clauses
+3 positive

Veterans seeking community care appointments, Veterans using community care

Technology
3 mentions across 3 clauses
+3 positive

Health IT scheduling technology contractors, Health IT scheduling technology vendors

Government
3 mentions across 3 clauses
-3 negative

Department of Veterans Affairs, VA schedulers

Health Professionals
1 mention across 1 clause
+1 positive

Community care health providers in VA network

2/2
sections analyzed
Full impact breakdown

Bill Structure & Actor Mappings

Who is "The Secretary" in each section?

Domains
Healthcare Veterans Affairs Technology

We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.

Learn more about our methodology