# 119-s-4744: Take Care of America’s Veterans Act 119-s-4744, Take Care of America’s Veterans Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Moran, Jerry [R-KS] (R-KS); status in_committee; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-16). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4744 - As of: 2026-10-16 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: 119-s-4744 - Congress: 119 - Title: Take Care of America’s Veterans Act - Status: in_committee - Introduced: 2026-06-10 - Sponsor: Sen. Moran, Jerry [R-KS] (R-KS) - Cosponsors: 7 - Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security - Touches household money: yes - Last recorded action: 2026-10-16 ## Summary **This bill would reshape VA law to expand veterans' benefits and modernize VA health care and operations.** It bundles pay and benefits changes with big health, access, education, and acquisition reforms. ## Cosponsors (7) - Sen. Boozman, John [R-AR] (R-AR), 2026-06-11T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Cramer, Kevin [R-ND] (R-ND), 2026-06-11T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Blackburn, Marsha [R-TN] (R-TN), 2026-06-15T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Sheehy, Tim [R-MT] (R-MT), 2026-06-16T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Tillis, Thomas [R-NC] (R-NC), 2026-06-17T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Cassidy, Bill [R-LA] (R-LA), 2026-07-29T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Hyde-Smith, Cindy [R-MS] (R-MS), 2026-08-04T00:00:00.000Z ## Provisions PRIA read - More pay for some retirees: benefit, high. If enacted, members retired under chapter 61 who have combat-related disabilities could receive both their chapter 61 retired pay and VA disability compensation without the usual statutory offsets. Career retirees with 20 or more years would get the higher retired pay plus disability. This would st… - VA-paid vehicle adaptations: benefit, high. If enacted, VA would treat medically necessary automobile adaptations as medical services and could provide items like ramps, lifts, raised roofs, and adapted seating when the VA says they are needed. The bill would also centralize and speed payment processing to sellers of adapted vehicles, publis… - More VA construction and project rules: benefit, high. If enacted, VA would make permanent the authority to accept donated buildings and would allow donations to pay for minor construction and maintenance if the work matches VA capital plans and comes with required agreements and protections. VA would run pilots using commercial building codes in at le… - DIC rises with Social Security: benefit, medium. If enacted, Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) amounts would increase whenever Social Security benefits rise under the SSA COLA rule. The DIC increase would equal the SSA percentage increase plus one percentage point. The change would take effect December 1, 2026 and end after the third in… - Boosted mental health and SUD services: benefit, medium. If enacted, VA would set national rules for residential mental‑health and substance use disorder programs to ensure interim care, standardized care plans, and fast clinical appeal responses. VA must track wait times and program outcomes, study and report on program operations, and prioritize clinic… - Education pay for VA clinicians: benefit, medium. If enacted, the VA would reimburse up to $1,000 per year for continuing professional education for many full-time VA clinicians and may authorize up to $1,000 for certain other staff. The program may reimburse no more than 50,000 people per year and the VA must prioritize staff who provide direct p… - Faster claims, exams, and sensitive MST rules: benefit, medium. If enacted, VA would review samples of medical disability exams quarterly and provide new exams and priority processing when exams are inadequate. The bill would strengthen protections and specialized review for military sexual trauma (MST) compensation claims and require VA to substantially comply… - Faster community care and standards: benefit, medium. If enacted, the VA would be required to meet new scheduling and driving-time targets for community care and to offer eligible veterans a non-VA option when VA cannot admit them in time. The VA would publish a public fee schedule for non-VA residential treatment programs and recoup any amounts paid… - Help with travel, lodging, and caregiving: benefit, medium. If enacted, the VA would expand transportation grants and raise grant caps to help veterans in highly rural areas, allow more types of grantees, and increase amounts for ADA vehicles. The VA would also let family members and some service members use Fisher House space when rooms are available. Desi… - Higher DIC when ALS caused death: benefit, medium. If enacted, survivors of veterans whom the Secretary determines died from ALS would be treated as eligible for the higher-rate DIC provision regardless of how long the veteran had ALS. This applies to veterans who died from ALS on or after October 1, 2022. - Modernize scheduling and community care: benefit, medium. If enacted, VA would be required to build self-service scheduling and an electronic scheduling process for VA and community care, publish plans within a year, and fully implement systems within two years. VA must also improve provider screening, require timely submission of non-VA medical records,… - More telehealth and copay relief: benefit, medium. If enacted, covered VA clinicians could use telemedicine to practice and prescribe across State lines and in Freely Associated States when treating veterans. The bill would also exempt opioid antidotes for high-overdose-risk veterans and certain limited-supply telemedicine prescriptions (up to 30 d… - National prosthetics formulary and ordering: benefit, medium. If enacted, VA would create a national formulary for prosthetic and rehabilitative items and publish it with public input. VA must build an enterprise electronic ordering system across all medical centers within three years, keep adequate prosthetic staff, and allow clinician exceptions and prior a… - Pilot to coordinate VA and Medicare care: benefit, medium. If enacted, VA and HHS would run a three-year pilot in 3–5 regions to coordinate care for veterans enrolled in both VA and Medicare. Each participating veteran would get a case manager to coordinate care and benefits. VA must track metrics on access, cost, quality and give biannual briefings and an… - Rural and frontier care pilots: benefit, medium. If enacted, VA would start two limited pilots within one year to expand rural access. One five-year pilot would have VA centers partner with rural entities for co-location, telehealth, training, and care coordination. A separate five-year pilot would reimburse qualifying critical access hospitals a… - Service dog grant pilot for veterans: benefit, medium. If enacted, VA would start a three-year pilot (to begin within 24 months) awarding grants to nonprofits to provide service dogs to eligible enrolled veterans. Grants to any nonprofit would generally be capped at $2 million per year. The pilot is authorized at $10 million per year for three years, a… - Spinal cord injury care and supports: benefit, medium. If enacted, VA would be required to make a plan and start pilots to improve access and residential mental-health care for veterans with spinal cord injury or disorder. Veterans with SCI/D could get an annual preventive evaluation and, when clinically needed, bowel and bladder home care paid by VA.… - VA Center to test payment models: benefit, medium. If enacted, the bill would create a permanent VA Center for Innovation to test new payment and care delivery models. The Center must begin pilots within one year and run scientifically valid evaluations, publish annual reports, and the old statutory innovation center would be repealed. Any broader… - New VA workforce and hiring rules: benefit, medium. If enacted, VA would have to publish a five‑year strategic human capital plan to Congress by September 30, 2027, and update it each year starting September 30, 2028. VA must give quarterly public staffing data and 60 days’ notice before planned layoffs. The Secretary would create a telework policy… - Stronger transition help for servicemembers: benefit, medium. If enacted, the Transition Assistance Program (TAP) would give more and clearer preseparation help. Special operations members would be included. Members who accepted full‑time work or school would get at least three days of preseparation counseling; others would get at least five days. TAP would a… - Better appeals tracking and notices: benefit, medium. If enacted, the VA would study whether the Board can make precedential decisions, use technology to track many types of claims, and report annually on remand and docket metrics. The VA would also hire a research center to review claimant forms and notices and implement lawful recommendations to mak… - Major VA IT and claims updates: benefit, medium. If enacted, the bill would give VA $500 million for IT projects in fiscal year 2026, available until September 30, 2031, split across logistics, cybersecurity, and resilient communications/digital records. VA would have to plan, brief, and report regularly to Congress, and the funds could not be us… - New VHA review panel and suicide data: benefit, medium. If enacted, a 17‑member VHA Policy Advisory Commission would be created to review VHA operations and report to Congress each year by March 15. The Commission would meet at least once a year, may hire staff, and would end on September 30, 2032. The bill would also require veteran suicide prevention… - Grants for TBI research and trials: benefit, medium. If enacted, VA would run two time-limited TBI research grant programs and report on results. One program would fund independent mTBI research with specified annual award counts and limits. A separate TBI Innovation Grant Program would fund randomized trials and neurorehabilitation, with grants capp… - More VA medical research sharing: benefit, medium. If enacted, the Precision Medicine Initiative would add repetitive low-level blast exposure and dementia to its research and require VA and DoD to share relevant DoD data on an open platform. The VA could use Federally Funded Research and Development Centers for independent assessments. The bill al… - Stronger suicide and mental health care: benefit, medium. If enacted, the suicide prevention grant program would be reauthorized with $200 million for FY2027–FY2029, require specific screening tools, add performance-based awards, and require quick VA contact for referrals (72 hours, 24 hours for emergencies). The VA would also require no-cost, standards-a… - VA acquisition and construction reforms: benefit, medium. If enacted, the VA would adopt sweeping acquisition and oversight reforms for major medical facility leases and construction. The bill would set high-cost thresholds, create a Chief Acquisition Officer and program executive roles, require life-cycle cost estimates in budget materials, consolidate a… - More headstone eligibility for families: benefit, low. If enacted, VA would remove the rule that limited VA memorial headstones and markers to people who died on or after November 11, 1998. That means survivors could request a VA headstone or marker for veterans who died before that date as well. - Adaptive prosthetics and devices: benefit, low. If enacted, the VA would explicitly include adaptive prostheses and terminal devices for sports and recreational use as prosthetic items when the VA finds them clinically appropriate. This would let eligible veterans get these devices through the VA prosthetic program. - Care access for Freely Associated States: benefit, low. If enacted, VA would work with governments of the Freely Associated States to provide telehealth and mail-order pharmacy services to veterans there. VA must start outreach within 30 days and begin services and mandatory beneficiary travel payments within one year. VA must send quarterly reports on… - Local community services coordination pilot: benefit, low. If enacted, VA would run a community integration pilot at at least five sites to link veterans to local services like housing, food, jobs, and caregiving. Participating veterans would give informed written consent before sharing social‑needs data. The pilot would protect privacy, track referrals an… - TRICARE for some remarried widows: benefit, low. If enacted, TRICARE would include as a dependent a remarried widow or widower whose later marriage ended by death, divorce, or annulment. That change would take effect on enactment and make those individuals newly eligible for TRICARE where other rules are met. - VA menopause and mid‑life study plan: benefit, low. If enacted, VA would review existing research and training on menopause and mid-life women's health and submit a report to Congress within 180 days with gaps, recommendations, and a strategic plan to address them while avoiding duplication with HHS efforts. - VA–DoD blast injury task force: benefit, low. If enacted, the bill would create a VA–DoD Blast Overpressure Task Force to coordinate research, diagnostics, and claims guidance for blast-related brain and neurological conditions. The Task Force would report annually to Congress and would end on September 30, 2029. - Mentors for VA medical leaders: benefit, low. If enacted, the VA could set up a peer mentorship program for new executive leaders at VA medical centers. The Secretary would report on participation and turnover within one year and then annually for three years. The authority to run the program would end on September 30, 2030. - Overseas fallen servicemember outreach: benefit, low. If enacted, the American Battle Monuments Commission would run a five-year program to identify deceased Jewish servicemembers buried overseas under incorrect markers and contact families. Each year the Commission could hire a nonprofit contractor with a $500,000 contract to do the work. - Limits on headstones and interment: cost, low. If enacted, the VA generally would not provide a headstone, marker, or interment benefit for an individual for whom the VA furnishes an urn or commemorative plaque, with two narrow exceptions for shared markers or simultaneous interment. This rule applies to deaths on or after January 5, 2021. - Changes to disability claims and ratings: mixed, high. If enacted, several changes would affect VA disability claims. The VA would set new sleep apnea ratings (0%, 10%, 50%, 100%) for claims filed after enactment and generally bar a separate compensable tinnitus rating except in narrow cases. VA could not deny a claim solely because a veteran missed a… - Changes to VA home loan rules: mixed, high. If enacted, certain Reserve and National Guard members who completed at least 14 days of specified active duty and then finished entry level and skill training would become eligible for VA home loan benefits for service on or after September 11, 2001. Borrowers who get eligibility solely because of… - Telehealth prescribing for controlled drugs: mixed, medium. If enacted, covered VA clinicians would be allowed to prescribe controlled substances by telemedicine, including audio-only where needed, for eligible VA patients. Providers must check VA records and State prescription monitoring programs and document attempts. If monitoring data are unavailable, p… - More education help for veterans: mixed, medium. If enacted, this would change many VA education rules. Short summer distance-learning students would get a monthly housing stipend based on the national average BAH for an E‑5 with dependents for programs starting August 1, 2027. The VA could expand VetSuccess on Campus to every State and let non‑V… - Tighter VA–DoD sharing and transparency: mixed, medium. If enacted, the law would extend VA–DoD health resource sharing authority to September 30, 2027. VA could enter noncompetitive contracts to get space or shared services from affiliated institutions when obligations are funded by appropriations or the institution, but multi‑year agreements must be f… ## Related bills - 119-s-5526: Agricultural Act of 2026 - 119-s-1241: Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025 - 119-s-401: Fair Access to Banking Act - 119-s-1816: Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act of 2025 - 119-s-186: No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2025 - 119-s-6: Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act ## Sources - [119-s-4744 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/4744) ## Related - [119-s-5526: Agricultural Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5526) - [119-s-1241: Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1241) - [119-s-401: Fair Access to Banking Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-401) - [119-s-1816: Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1816) - [119-s-186: No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-186) - [119-s-6: Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-6) - [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4744 (as of 2026-10-16).