U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN) on Jan. 30 sponsored legislation to improve accountability and oversight of same-day medical and mental health services provided by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
“Our veterans deserve the best possible care this country can provide,” Rep. Emmer said. “I introduced this legislation to ensure they are receiving the timely care they need. Whether it be a debilitating physical ailment or the struggle of an invisible mental illness, they need to be treated immediately.”
Rep. Emmer introduced the Same-Day Accountability Veterans Enhancement (SAVE) Act, H.R. 5724, to ensure the VA puts in place specific accountability mechanisms to successfully offer same-day physical and mental health treatment to U.S. military veterans.
“Accountability and oversight are vital and I will continue to ensure the Veterans Administration is holding to their promise to care for our veterans,” said Rep. Emmer. “I look forward to working with my colleagues to further serve our nation’s heroes.”
In 2014, a series of congressional testimonies highlighted problems with veterans’ access to care after significant appointment wait times at VA medical centers reportedly resulted in harm to veterans, according to an August 2019 report issued by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO).
In response, the VA’s Veterans Health Administration (VHA) implemented several initiatives, including same-day services at its medical centers and outpatient clinics, according to the report.
However, the GAO subsequently found that the VHA lacked documented objectives and performance goals, leaving progress difficult to track and thereby complicating implementation and oversight of the initiative, according to its report.
“Officials from all six VA medical centers GAO visited said they … generally relied on previous approaches to implement VHA’s same-day-services initiative,” GAO reported. “However, these officials told GAO that some of VHA’s guidance and updated policies were difficult to implement due to long-standing challenges of staffing and space constraints, among others.”
If enacted, H.R. 5724 would tackle such challenges via accountability measures to ensure the implementation of same-day delivery, particularly for veterans struggling with mental illness who need immediate crisis care, according to Rep. Emmer’s office.
The bill is supported by the Paralyzed Veterans of America, the Disabled Veterans of America, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars.