All Roll Calls
Yes: 210 • No: 211
HR9237119th CongressWALLET
Take Care of America’s Veterans Act
Sponsored By: Representative Bost, Mike [R-IL-12]
In Committee
Summary
Expands veterans' benefits and modernizes VA care, claims adjudication, and oversight. The bill adds concurrent receipt for certain chapter 61 retirees, remakes appeals and Board rules, funds health programs and research, and requires many pilots and IT upgrades.
Show full summary
- Veterans and families: Allows some chapter 61 retirees to receive military retired pay and VA disability pay at the same time and creates new supports like prosthetics coverage, bowel and bladder care stipends, service dog grants, expanded caregiver assistance, and education benefit tweaks.
- Claims, appeals, and VA operations: Forces aggregation of related appeals with FFRDC guidance, creates a Board quality and training program, mandates automation plans for claims processing, and builds special protections and a public dashboard for military sexual trauma claims.
- Health care, community partners, and research: Funds short‑term mTBI research grants, expands Veterans Community Care Program rules and telehealth, authorizes traveling physicians for territories and Freely Associated States, and provides major IT and construction funding including $500 million for IT and a $1.18 billion Manchester facility.
*Authorizes or appropriates at least $2.4 billion in specified spending, including $500 million for IT and $1.2 billion for a Manchester facility, increasing federal outlays over coming years.*
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
45 provisions identified: 35 benefits, 0 costs, 10 mixed.
Chapter 61 retirees get concurrent pay
If enacted, certain service members retired under chapter 61 with a combat-related disability would be able to receive both their chapter 61 retired pay and VA disability compensation. The change applies only to qualifying chapter 61 retirees and would take effect January 1, 2027.
Faster community and residential care access
If enacted, VA would set clearer time and travel rules and new priority screening for community and residential care. For primary and mental health care, appointments would be schedulable within a 30‑minute drive and within 20 days of request; specialty care would be within a 60‑minute drive and 28 days. For covered treatment programs VA would screen within 48 hours and, if eligible for priority admission, admit within 48 hours or offer the option of care at an accredited non‑VA facility. VA would also require accreditation, develop appeals and transportation reimbursement rules for residential mental health programs, and run pilots to expand residential services (including for spinal cord injury).
No DIC cut for remarried spouses
If enacted, remarriage would not stop a surviving spouse from getting Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) or certain VA annuities. The VA could not end an annuity only because the surviving spouse remarried. The bill would also treat a veteran who dies from ALS on or after October 1, 2022 as meeting the rule for survivor DIC.
Stronger protections for MST claims
If enacted, the VA would be required to tell a veteran what evidence would count as credible corroboration before denying a military sexual trauma (MST) compensation claim and give the veteran time to provide that evidence. The VA must route MST claims to specialized teams, include contact information on claim documents, and review policies at least annually with medical and mental health professionals. The VA would also create a public dashboard with data on MST claims, update it at least every 30 days, and brief Congress quarterly starting within 180 days.
More education help and campus programs
If enacted, some Post-9/11 beneficiaries who are not eligible for the monthly housing stipend could get a lump-sum payment after their entitlement ends. The bill would also expand VetSuccess on Campus to every State, add emerging-technology fields to VET-TEC and set a 180-day employment-rate test, allow tailored electronic education outreach with opt-in, require a before-you-pay warning for licensing test fees, broaden which education programs qualify for VA-paid licensing tests, and create a monthly housing stipend for summer distance-learning programs starting August 1, 2027.
VA IT modernization funding
If enacted, the bill would appropriate $500 million to the Department of Veterans Affairs for fiscal year 2026 to modernize IT. The money would be split: $150 million for logistics and supply chain visibility, $200 million for cybersecurity and operational resiliency, and $150 million for resilient communications and digital records. Funds would remain available until September 30, 2031 and must supplement, not supplant, other IT appropriations. The Secretary would have to brief Congress within 90 days and provide quarterly obligation reports and other status reports.
Changes to disability ratings and exams
If enacted, new rules would change VA disability ratings and claims handling. Tinnitus would generally not get a separate compensable rating for claims filed after enactment, except a limited 10% in narrow cases. New sleep apnea rules would set 0%, 10%, 50%, or 100% ratings for claims filed after enactment based on treatment and organ damage. The VA could not deny a claim just because a veteran missed a VA-provided exam. The VA could use more contract examiners with current licenses through September 30, 2033 and must let those examiners add evidence to claims files.
VA home loans: fees and eligibility
If enacted, the bill would raise two VA loan-fee categories: one fee would go from 0.50% to 1.42% and another from 0.50% to 1.00%. The bill would also expand VA home loan eligibility to certain Reserve and National Guard members who completed at least 14 days of active duty under specified authorities and finished entry-level and skill training, for service on or after September 11, 2001. New eligibles under that change would pay an additional loan fee equal to 1.00 percentage point. The Secretary would notify the Secretary of Defense so eligible reserve and Guard members are informed after enactment.
VA facility projects, donations, and leases
If enacted, the bill would authorize $1.18 billion for a new VA major medical facility project in Manchester, New Hampshire, with funds to remain available until expended. The Secretary could waive certain rules to engage non-Department federal project managers but must notify Congress within 60 days and give committees timely access to project materials. The bill would let VA accept donations to pay for minor construction or maintenance that match VA planning priorities, subject to formal donor agreements and oversight. The VA must also use full life-cycle and market cost estimates for major facility leases and notify Congress if the lowest offer is more than 10% above the prospectus estimate and submit a plan before awarding the lease.
Clear community care rules for veterans
If enacted, the VA would have to tell a veteran in writing within five days if they are eligible for community care, and veterans could opt out of those notices. The period authorized for community care would start on the date the veteran attends the first appointment with the community provider. Contracts with non-VA providers would have to require timely submission of medical records to VA and VA would set goals and training to improve record flow. The VA would publish a public fee schedule within 180 days, may recoup amounts paid above that schedule, and non-VA providers could not bill veterans for recouped amounts. The VA would audit a sample of community-care cases and report to Congress annually for five years, and contracted examiners would be able to send evidence from exams into claims files.
Easier VA appointment scheduling
If enacted, VA would build an electronic scheduling system and a veteran self‑service tool so staff and patients can view and book appointments across primary, mental health, and specialty care. The Secretary would issue rules, train schedulers, and report wait times every six months for three years. VA must send Congress a plan within one year and fully implement scheduling improvements within two years. VA would also provide written wait‑time and average drive‑time information for each episode of care and record it in your health record unless you opt out.
Grants and research for veteran care
If enacted, VA would fund grants and studies to improve veteran care and services. The bill authorizes a three‑year TBI clinical trial grant program ($10 million per year for FY2026–2028), a three‑year nonprofit outpatient mental health grant pilot ($20 million per year for FY2027–2029), and a service‑dog grant pilot with multi‑year funding and veterinary insurance for recipients. VA would also work with ATSDR to study health effects in descendants of toxic‑exposed veterans and publish annual updates.
Higher survivor checks tied to Social Security
If enacted, the bill would require VA to raise dependency and indemnity compensation (DIC) amounts by the same percent that Social Security benefits increase plus one additional percentage point. The change would take effect on December 1, 2026, and VA would publish the new amounts when Social Security publishes its increase. This adjustment would stop after the third such increase under this rule.
Improve medical exams and MST outreach
If enacted, VA would set up working groups and quality checks to improve medical disability exams and communications for military sexual trauma (MST) claimants. VA would review scheduling tools, ensure examiners have needed records, run quarterly quality reviews of exams, and require another exam and priority processing if an exam is inadequate. VA would also revise standard letters to be trauma‑sensitive and implement targeted outreach within 180 days.
Modernize VA claims and tracking
If enacted, VA would make a plan to automate parts of benefits claims processing and improve tracking. The plan would automate retrieval of service and health records, compile evidence, and help generate correspondence. VA must track many claim categories and publish an annual report, and it must do annual accuracy reviews of MST‑related claims and reprocess any claim with an entitlement error for up to five years.
More community care and telehealth access
If enacted, VA would consider continuity of care and attendant needs when choosing community care and would be required to tell veterans about telehealth options when appropriate. Community providers must file claims within one year or they cannot bill the patient. The bill would also exclude certain opioid overdose-reversal drugs and some limited telemedicine supplies from VA copays for high-risk veterans. The VA would be required to pay beneficiary travel for eligible veterans in the Freely Associated States within one year, and Fisher House lodging access on a space-available basis would be broadened.
More VA care in rural areas
If enacted, VA would start pilots and agreements to bring care closer to veterans in rural and frontier areas and U.S. territories. VA would reimburse Critical Access Hospitals and affiliated rural clinics for outpatient veteran care, require care coordination and timely records sharing, and give one‑year authorizations to participating veterans. VA would also staff pilots with dedicated VA personnel, assign traveling physicians to territories, and work to provide telehealth and mail pharmacy services in Freely Associated States, with regular reports to Congress.
Standard list for prosthetics
If enacted, VA would publish and keep updated a national formulary of prosthetic and rehabilitative items and services. VA must make formulary items available at or through all facilities, set a process for clinicians to request non‑formulary items, and implement an enterprise ordering system across centers within three years. VA must also report to Congress about operations and technology and maintain Prosthetic and Sensory Aids Service staffing.
VA bowel and bladder care benefit
If enacted, VA would create a bowel and bladder care program for veterans with clinical need. Care could be provided by a trained family member or individually employed caregiver who would receive a monthly stipend (capped at a nursing assistant pay step near the veteran) or by contracted home health agencies paid at VA rates. VA must assess hours needed, provide training to caregivers, and get review from a designated SCI/D center before denying care.
More notice and limits on VA job cuts
If enacted, VA would have to notify Congress and affected employees at least 60 days before any planned reduction in force. The notice must list how many employees, which offices, staffing before and after, services affected, budget effects, and mitigation plans. A RIF done without the required notice would have no force until VA complies.
More VA help for apprentices' first year
If enacted, the bill would increase the VA-funded share of approved educational assistance from 80% to 100% for the first year of a full-time apprenticeship or on-the-job training program. The change would apply to enrollees using VA educational assistance under the chapter. This would cover more of training costs in that first year.
Pay and training perks for VA clinicians
If enacted, eligible full-time VA clinicians could get up to $1,000 per year to help pay continuing education costs. The program could reimburse up to 50,000 people a year and must prioritize direct patient-care staff. Traveling physicians would be eligible for relocation or retention bonuses in addition to pay. Psychologists could be appointed under Title 38 employee rules and be eligible for scarce-specialist contracts. VA must report annually on education and scholarship program data.
Stronger oversight of VA construction projects
If enacted, the VA would send frequent, detailed reports on capital projects and ‘‘super construction’’ projects to Congress, starting 30 days after the fiscal year and then every 60 days until the next fiscal year ends. The VA would report cost overruns greater than 10% or delays over 180 days and explain corrective actions. The VA must report plans to detect and prevent waste, fraud, and abuse within one year and would run pilots using commercial building codes from fiscal years 2027–2031. The bill also creates a Director of Cost Assessment and requires a systems engineering analysis of VA acquisition.
VA must add reorg metrics and plans
If enacted, VA would have to include results-based metrics and a risk-mitigation plan when proposing administrative reorganizations. The VA must report on each completed reorganization within 180 days and then every 180 days until two years after completion.
Mentorship for VA medical leaders
If enacted, the Secretary would be able to create a mentorship program pairing VA medical center executives with experienced peer mentors. Eligible mentees would include new leaders with less than one year in the job, leaders at underperforming centers, or those recommended by regional leadership. VA must report to Congress one year after enactment and annually for three more years on participation and outcomes. The authority to run the program would end on September 30, 2030.
More suicide and mental health grants
If enacted, the suicide prevention grant program would be extended through September 30, 2029 and authorized $200 million for fiscal years 2027–2029. VA could award up to $250,000 extra per grantee per year for strong performance. VA would require quick follow-up for referrals to the grant program: non-emergent referrals would be reviewed and veterans contacted within 72 hours and emergent referrals within 24 hours. The bill would also set eligibility and per-facility caps for a mental health pilot grant program and require a contracted study of covered treatment programs to assess quality and outcomes.
More VA health research and data
If enacted, the VA would expand and coordinate research on veteran health in several areas. The bill would add repetitive low-level blast exposure and dementia to the Precision Medicine initiative and require DoD to share relevant data. The VA would form a Blast Overpressure Task Force within 180 days and run targeted research and coordination until September 30, 2029. The VA would also evaluate menopause and mid-life women's health research and send a report with a strategic plan within 180 days. The VA would plan research capital and IT needs and report to Congress within two years.
One-year extension of VA and Defense sharing
If enacted, the VA and the Department of Defense would be allowed to continue sharing health care resources for one more year, through September 30, 2027. This would preserve existing VA–DoD resource‑sharing arrangements for that additional year and not create new eligibility rules.
Stronger rules for VA acquisitions
If enacted, VA would boost acquisition internship hiring so participants are two to four times fiscal year 2025 levels by the first fiscal year after enactment. The VA must set standardized rules for major acquisition programs and send annual reports tracking operating and support costs until December 31, 2028. The VA would also be allowed to enter certain noncompetitive agreements for existing physical space or common services, with annual payments limited to available appropriations.
VA workforce and hiring reforms
If enacted, the VA would produce a five-year strategic human capital plan by September 30, 2027 and update it each year. The plan must show staffing needs by location, include a workforce gap analysis, and set recruitment and retention goals, including for veterans, spouses, and caregivers. The VA would also be required to post vacancies to include all clinician types who could fill a role when possible, set standardized hiring steps and tentative offers with pay rates when practical, and allow e-signatures on hiring documents once processes are ready.
Changes to VA drug and naloxone access
If enacted, VA would run a one‑year pilot to give overdose rescue medication to veterans at no charge, with privacy protections and outreach about addiction and mental health services. The bill would also let VA clinicians prescribe controlled substances by telemedicine (including audio‑only in some cases) without an in‑person exam if they meet registration and documentation rules and have a recent in‑person evaluation on file. Limits would apply: a seven‑day supply if monitoring systems are unavailable, a six‑month maximum use under the authority, and restrictions on initiating most Schedule II/III opioids; the telemedicine authority would end Sept. 30, 2031.
New rules for mental health grants
If enacted, recipients of certain VA mental-health grants could not charge eligible veterans fees or refuse care because a veteran lacks another payer. Grant funds could not duplicate payments the VA already makes. Grantees would have to coordinate with VA mental-health providers, run pre- and post-intervention assessments, and submit data on screened, referred, connected, retained people and changes in severity.
Stronger oversight of community providers
If enacted, VA would require standard contract terms so auditors can get timely access to provider records and staff, and would require monthly automated checks against exclusion lists. VA would set suspension rules for alleged fraud with notice and a response period, and would require third‑party administrators to update provider lists regularly. VA would also publish community‑care sufficiency data and create a training and oversight plan for community providers with metrics and corrective actions.
VA vendor payments and contract rules
If enacted, VA would centralize payment processing for adapted-vehicle sellers and publish processing times when invoices are not paid within 30 days. VA would track and resolve payments more than 90 days overdue and produce four semiannual reports on processing times and needed IT improvements. The bill would also let VA terminate or bar contractors who are excluded from Federal health programs or convicted of serious offenses, although the Secretary could issue a one-year waiver that must be reported to Congress within 30 days. The Department could publish lists of ineligible entities.
Changes to VA innovation and assessments
If enacted, the bill would repeal the existing statutory Center for Innovation authority and create new rules requiring any VA innovation model to be cost-neutral to the Department while letting the VA expand models only when the Secretary and the CFO certify budget neutrality or quality improvements. Independent assessments would also be required to look at proven Medicare, Medicaid, and TRICARE practices, and FFRDCs could be used for those assessments.
Pilots and studies to improve VA care
If enacted, VA would run multiple pilots and studies to test care coordination, payment reforms, and information sharing. This includes a three‑year VA–Medicare coordination pilot with case managers, a VA–DoD joint resource sharing plan, a VA Center for Innovation to test payment models, and pilots for preventive and bundled episode payments. VA would also hire an outside group to compare VA and non‑VA mental health and addiction care and report results to Congress.
Veteran death, burial, and reporting
If enacted, the American Battle Monuments Commission would run a five-year program to find Jewish service members buried under incorrect markers and could hire a nonprofit each year with a $500,000 contract for this work. The VA would be required to send Congress an annual report on causes of death among veterans for five years, including service-connection totals and manner of death. The VA would also require VA-employed primary care clinicians to certify a veteran's natural-cause death within two business days after learning of the death, with coroner/medical examiner backup if the clinician cannot comply.
Annual spinal cord checks and social needs
If enacted, VA would offer an annual preventative health evaluation to any veteran with a spinal cord injury or disorder who chooses it. The check could be in VA care, by referral, or by telehealth and must cover risks, chronic pain, diet, prosthetics, and assistive technology training needs. The VA would also collect standard social-determinants-of-health information during routine screenings for veterans enrolled in the annual patient enrollment system, using ICD-10 codes Z55–Z63 and Z75 and measures of severity.
Lactation rooms at VA centers
If enacted, each VA medical center would need a clean, private lactation room that is not a bathroom. At least 80% of centers must comply within two years and all centers within three years. VA must report to Congress in one year and then annually until all centers meet the rule.
VA covers adaptive prosthetics and vehicles
If enacted, VA medical services would explicitly include adaptive prostheses and sports or recreational terminal devices when clinically appropriate. The bill would also treat medically necessary automobile adaptations (ramps, lifts, adapted seating, and similar items) as medical services eligible under VA care.
Court class action access for veterans
If enacted, the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims could hear certain class-style cases when many claimants share the same issues. The Court could remand cases to the Board for limited fixes and pause appeal deadlines while it reviews a class request.
Faster, clearer VA appeals and reviews
If enacted, the Board of Veterans' Appeals chairman could group appeals that share common legal or factual questions to decide those questions more efficiently. The chairman must study common questions and may use technology, and the VA would produce recommended improvements to clinical appeals after stakeholder consultation. The bill would require the Secretary to ensure substantial compliance with Board remands unless a Board member documents a narrow waiver. The VA must also report annual appeals timeline metrics to Congress starting within one year.
Simpler VA calls, forms, and notices
If enacted, the VA would try to make outgoing calls from a single known phone number with caller ID showing the call is from the VA. The VA health system would have at least one call center in each of six U.S. time zones within one year, with some exceptions. The VA would hire an outside research center to assess claim forms and notices and would send the assessments to Congress and implement recommended clarity improvements within one year to two years.
Long‑term care building needs report
If enacted, VA would send Congress a medical‑center‑by‑medical‑center report within one year listing physical infrastructure needed to support current and future long‑term care models. The report must list needs for women veterans and veterans with SCI/D, TBI, memory loss, and other special groups and include cost estimates and timelines assuming funding. It would also recommend how to prioritize projects that provide services not widely available outside VA.
Changes to VA headstone and burial rules
If enacted, the VA would drop an old date limit so more families could get a VA headstone or marker for a qualifying deceased veteran. At the same time, when the VA furnishes an urn or commemorative plaque it generally could not also provide a separate headstone or interment benefit unless the request is for a shared inscribed marker or the individuals are interred at the same time and gravesite. The restriction applies to deaths on or after January 5, 2021.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Bost, Mike [R-IL-12]
IL • R
Cosponsors
Rep. Bilirakis, Gus M. [R-FL-12]
FL • R
Sponsored 6/10/2026
Hudson
NC • R
Sponsored 6/10/2026
Rep. Lawler, Michael [R-NY-17]
NY • R
Sponsored 6/10/2026
Rep. Van Orden, Derrick [R-WI-3]
WI • R
Sponsored 6/10/2026
Rep. Miller-Meeks, Mariannette [R-IA-1]
IA • R
Sponsored 6/10/2026
Rep. Murphy, Gregory F. [R-NC-3]
NC • R
Sponsored 6/10/2026
Rep. McGuire, John J. [R-VA-5]
VA • R
Sponsored 6/10/2026
Rep. Barrett, Tom [R-MI-7]
MI • R
Sponsored 6/10/2026
Rep. Bergman, Jack [R-MI-1]
MI • R
Sponsored 6/10/2026
Rep. Baird, James R. [R-IN-4]
IN • R
Sponsored 6/10/2026
Rep. Meuser, Daniel [R-PA-9]
PA • R
Sponsored 6/10/2026
Del. King-Hinds, Kimberlyn [R-MP-At Large]
MP • R
Sponsored 6/10/2026
Rep. Kiggans, Jennifer A. [R-VA-2]
VA • R
Sponsored 6/10/2026
Rep. Hamadeh, Abraham J. [R-AZ-8]
AZ • R
Sponsored 6/10/2026
Rep. Hill, J. French [R-AR-2]
AR • R
Sponsored 6/10/2026
Rep. Obernolte, Jay [R-CA-23]
CA • R
Sponsored 6/10/2026
Edwards
NC • R
Sponsored 6/10/2026
Rep. Moolenaar, John R. [R-MI-2]
MI • R
Sponsored 6/10/2026
Rep. Taylor, David J. [R-OH-2]
OH • R
Sponsored 6/10/2026
Rep. Kelly, Mike [R-PA-16]
PA • R
Sponsored 6/10/2026
Rep. Malliotakis, Nicole [R-NY-11]
NY • R
Sponsored 6/15/2026
Rep. Moore, Barry [R-AL-1]
AL • R
Sponsored 6/15/2026
Rep. Tenney, Claudia [R-NY-24]
NY • R
Sponsored 6/22/2026
Rep. Ciscomani, Juan [R-AZ-6]
AZ • R
Sponsored 6/22/2026
Del. Radewagen, Aumua Amata Coleman [R-AS-At Large]
AS • R
Sponsored 6/22/2026
Rep. Luttrell, Morgan [R-TX-8]
TX • R
Sponsored 6/22/2026
Rep. Stauber, Pete [R-MN-8]
MN • R
Sponsored 6/22/2026
Rep. Fischbach, Michelle [R-MN-7]
MN • R
Sponsored 6/24/2026
Rep. Newhouse, Dan [R-WA-4]
WA • R
Sponsored 6/24/2026
Rep. Bacon, Don [R-NE-2]
NE • R
Sponsored 6/24/2026
Roll Call Votes
house vote • 7/16/2026
On Motion to Recommit
Yes: 210 • No: 211