# 119-hr-6038: Improving Veteran Access to Care Act

119-hr-6038, Improving Veteran Access to Care Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Mackenzie, Ryan [R-PA-7] (R-PA); status in_committee; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-07-10).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-6038
- As of: 2026-07-10
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-6038
- Congress: 119
- Title: Improving Veteran Access to Care Act
- Status: in_committee
- Introduced: 2025-11-12
- Sponsor: Rep. Mackenzie, Ryan [R-PA-7] (R-PA)
- Cosponsors: 2
- Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-07-10

## Summary

**Modernize VA appointment scheduling** by requiring a phased plan and new tools so veterans can view and book appointments across primary care, mental health, and specialty care. The bill would require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit that plan within 1 year and to fully implement it within 2 years after submission. - Veterans: They would get a self-service scheduling platform to view and fully schedule appointments, request referrals when needed, and cancel or reschedule. The bill also requires that any VA patient can speak by phone with a scheduler who can book appointments for them. - VA staff: The plan must upgrade employee-facing IT, training, and scheduling processes and give staff a system to view available appointments across care types. - Oversight and planning: The plan must be developed with the Electronic Health Record Modernization Program and include reports 1 year and 2 years after submission on costs, deployment schedules, goals, metrics, challenges, and lessons learned.

## Cosponsors (2)

- Rep. Pappas, Chris [D-NH-1] (D-NH), 2025-11-12T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Kiggans, Jennifer A. [R-VA-2] (R-VA), 2025-11-12T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Easier VA appointment scheduling for veterans: benefit, medium. This bill would require the VA to send Congress a plan to fix appointment scheduling within one year. The plan would let patients and staff see open slots for primary, mental health, and specialty care. Veterans would be able to book, cancel, or reschedule online, request referrals, or call a sched…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025
- 119-hr-9237: Take Care of America’s Veterans Act
- 119-hr-2725: Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2025
- 119-hr-4206: CONNECT for Health Act of 2025
- 119-hr-6575: CommonGround for Affordable Health Care Act
- 119-hr-2548: Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025

## Sources
- [119-hr-6038 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/6038)

## Related
- [119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3151)
- [119-hr-9237: Take Care of America’s Veterans Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9237)
- [119-hr-2725: Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2725)
- [119-hr-4206: CONNECT for Health Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4206)
- [119-hr-6575: CommonGround for Affordable Health Care Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-6575)
- [119-hr-2548: Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2548)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-6038 (as of 2026-07-10).