Blackburn, Joyce applaud Senate committee approval of VA accountability bill

The U.S. Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee unanimously approved a bipartisan, bicameral bill introduced by U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce (R-OH) that would improve how the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) publicly shares its performance metrics. 

The Senate committee on July 28 approved its version of the VA Quality Health Care Accountability and Transparency Act, S. 1319, which Sen. Blackburn cosponsored on April 22 with bill sponsor U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ). The bill now heads to the full Senate for action.  

“The VA Quality Health Care Accountability and Transparency Act will require the VA to work with veterans, veterans service organizations, and caregivers of veterans to improve the Access to Care website,” Sen. Blackburn said following the committee’s approval. “This is a good step forward, but more work needs to be done to ensure our heroes have access to usable healthcare data.”

Rep. Joyce on April 22 cosponsored the identical bill, H.R. 2775, in his chamber with bill sponsor U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ). The bill remains under consideration in the U.S. House Veterans’ Affairs Committee.

“I was proud to introduce the VA Quality Health Care Accountability and Transparency Act alongside Rep. Gallego and our colleagues in the Senate, and was pleased to see our bill pass out of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs with bipartisan support,” Rep. Joyce said. “I look forward to getting this bill across the finish line so that we can ensure our veterans have the information they need to make informed decisions about their health.”

If enacted, the bill would require the VA to improve display of staffing and vacancy information, patient wait times and patient safety and quality of care measures and outcomes in an accessible and easy-to-use format, according to a bill summary provided by the lawmakers. 

The measure also would require the VA to annually audit the data that it releases to the public to ensure that it is accurate and complete, the summary says.