II
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION S. 787
To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish a commission to review
operations at the Veterans Health Administration and submit to Con-
gress reports with respect to that review, and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
FEBRUARY27, 2025
Mr. C
ASSIDY(for himself and Ms. HIRONO) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs
A BILL
To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish a com-
mission to review operations at the Veterans Health Ad-
ministration and submit to Congress reports with respect
to that review, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘VetPAC Act of 2025’’. 4
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SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF VETERANS HEALTH ADMINIS-1
TRATION POLICY ADVISORY COMMISSION. 2
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Subchapter I of chapter 73 of title 3
38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 4
the following new section: 5
‘‘§ 7310B. Veterans Health Administration Policy Ad-6
visory Commission 7
‘‘(a) E
STABLISHMENT.—There is established the Vet-8
erans Health Administration Policy Advisory Commission 9
(in this section referred to as the ‘Commission’). 10
‘‘(b) M
EMBERSHIP.— 11
‘‘(1) C
OMPOSITION.—The Commission shall be 12
composed of 17 members appointed by the Comp-13
troller General of the United States, of which not 14
fewer than 2 shall be veterans. 15
‘‘(2) Q
UALIFICATIONS.— 16
‘‘(A) I
N GENERAL.—An individual is eligi-17
ble for appointment to the Commission under 18
paragraph (1) if the individual has significant 19
expertise in operating or advising large medical 20
systems, including expertise in quality of care, 21
staffing issues, information technology, artificial 22
intelligence in health care, medical supply 23
chains, procurement of medical supplies, med-24
ical facility construction or leasing, medical fa-25
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cility architecture or engineering, medical re-1
search, and managed care plans and networks. 2
‘‘(B) E
XPERIENCE OF MEMBERS .—In ap-3
pointing members under paragraph (1), the 4
Comptroller General shall select individuals 5
from backgrounds that reflect the broad diver-6
sity of health care received by veterans, includ-7
ing nonprofit health systems, public and private 8
health systems, care furnished by the Veterans 9
Health Administration, and care furnished by 10
the Department of Defense. 11
‘‘(3) E
THICAL DISCLOSURE.—A member of the 12
Commission shall be considered an employee of Con-13
gress whose compensation is disbursed by the Sec-14
retary of the Senate for purposes of applying sub-15
chapter I of chapter 131 of title 5, United States 16
Code, except that a member of the Commission is 17
required to file public financial disclosure reports 18
without regard to their number of days of service or 19
rate of pay. 20
‘‘(c) P
ERIOD OFAPPOINTMENT; VACANCIES.— 21
‘‘(1) T
ERMS.—A member of the Commission 22
shall be appointed under subsection (b)(1) for a 23
term of 5 years, except that the Comptroller General 24
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shall designate staggered terms for the members 1
first appointed. 2
‘‘(2) V
ACANCIES.— 3
‘‘(A) I
N GENERAL.—A vacancy on the 4
Commission shall be filled in the manner in 5
which the original appointment was made and 6
shall be subject to any conditions that applied 7
with respect to the original appointment. 8
‘‘(B) F
ILLING UNEXPIRED TERM .—An in-9
dividual chosen to fill a vacancy shall be ap-10
pointed for the unexpired term of the member 11
replaced. 12
‘‘(3) E
XPIRATION OF TERMS.—The term of any 13
member shall not expire before the date on which 14
the member’s successor takes office. 15
‘‘(d) M
EETINGS.— 16
‘‘(1) F
REQUENCY.—The Commission shall meet 17
at the call of the Chairman, but not less frequently 18
than once per year. 19
‘‘(2) Q
UORUM.—A majority of the members of 20
the Commission shall constitute a quorum, but a 21
lesser number of members may hold meetings. 22
‘‘(e) C
HAIRMAN ANDVICECHAIRMAN.—The Comp-23
troller General shall designate one member of the Commis-24
sion as Chairman and one member of the Commission as 25
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Vice Chairman, at the time of appointment of such mem-1
ber and for the term of appointment of such member, ex-2
cept that in the case of vacancy of the Chairmanship or 3
Vice Chairmanship, the Comptroller General may des-4
ignate another member for the remainder of that mem-5
ber’s term. 6
‘‘(f) D
UTIES OF THECOMMISSION.— 7
‘‘(1) R
EVIEW.—The Commission shall— 8
‘‘(A) review operations at the Veterans 9
Health Administration; and 10
‘‘(B) prepare reports for Congress based 11
on such review, including recommendations to 12
Congress. 13
‘‘(2) T
OPICS TO BE REVIEWED .—In conducting 14
a review under paragraph (1)(A), the Commission 15
shall include periodic reviews of the following, taking 16
into consideration other independent assessments in 17
selecting topics to limit duplicative efforts: 18
‘‘(A) Information technology infrastructure 19
at medical facilities of the Department, includ-20
ing with respect to electronic health record sys-21
tems. 22
‘‘(B) Referrals to care at facilities of the 23
Department and under the Veterans Commu-24
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nity Care Program under section 1703 of this 1
title, and factors impacting those referrals. 2
‘‘(C) Access and wait times at medical fa-3
cilities of the Department and under the Vet-4
erans Community Care Program, including both 5
primary and specialty care, and factors impact-6
ing those wait times. 7
‘‘(D) The quality of health care furnished 8
by the Department and through the Veterans 9
Community Care Program. 10
‘‘(E) Workforce issues, including workforce 11
performance, recruitment, and retention fac-12
tors. 13
‘‘(F) Patient satisfaction and customer 14
service at medical facilities of the Department 15
and through the Veterans Community Care 16
Program. 17
‘‘(G) The training of health care providers 18
and the standards of care at facilities of the 19
Department and in the Veterans Community 20
Care Program. 21
‘‘(H) The long-term budgetary outlook of 22
the Veterans Health Administration, as well as 23
key components driving budgetary changes over 24
time. 25
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‘‘(I) Procurement of supplies at medical fa-1
cilities of the Department. 2
‘‘(J) The research program of the Depart-3
ment, including both internal and external re-4
search. 5
‘‘(K) Hospital construction, leasing, and 6
capital requirements. 7
‘‘(L) The interaction of care under the 8
Medicare program under title XVIII of the So-9
cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395 et seq.), the 10
Medicaid program under title XIX of such Act 11
(42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.), the TRICARE pro-12
gram under chapter 55 of title 10, and commer-13
cial health care plans with care furnished by the 14
Veterans Health Administration. 15
‘‘(3) I
SSUES REGARDING VETERAN HEALTH 16
CARE DELIVERY GENERALLY .—In carrying out the 17
requirements of this subsection, the Commission 18
shall review the effect of policies under this title on 19
the delivery of health care services to veterans and 20
assess the implications of changes in health care de-21
livery for veterans in the United States. 22
‘‘(4) T
RANSMITTAL OF CERTAIN REPORTS .—If 23
the Secretary or the Inspector General of the De-24
partment of Veterans Affairs submits to Congress 25
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(or a committee of Congress) a report that is re-1
quired by law and that relates to policies for health 2
care furnished under the laws administered by the 3
Secretary, the Secretary shall transmit a copy of 4
that report to the Commission. 5
‘‘(5) C
ONSULTATION AND ADDITIONAL REVIEWS 6
AND STUDIES.— 7
‘‘(A) C
ONSULTATION.—In carrying out the 8
requirements of this subsection, the Commis-9
sion shall consult periodically with the chairmen 10
and ranking members of the Committee on Vet-11
erans’ Affairs of the Senate and the Committee 12
on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Represent-13
atives regarding the agenda of the Commission 14
and progress towards achieving that agenda. 15
‘‘(B) A
DDITIONAL REVIEWS AND RE -16
PORTS.—The Commission may conduct addi-17
tional reviews, and may submit additional re-18
ports to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of 19
the Senate and the Committee on Veterans’ Af-20
fairs of the House of Representatives, from 21
time to time on such topics relating to the ac-22
tivities of the Commission as may be requested 23
by the Chairman and members and as the Com-24
mission determines appropriate. 25
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‘‘(C) SPECIAL STUDIES.—The Commission 1
may conduct special studies requested by the 2
chairman or ranking member of the Committee 3
on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate or the Com-4
mittee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of 5
Representatives and as the Commission deter-6
mines appropriate. 7
‘‘(6) B
UDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS .—Before 8
making any recommendations to Congress, the Com-9
mission shall examine the budget consequences of 10
such recommendations, directly or through consulta-11
tion with appropriate expert entities. 12
‘‘(7) R
EPORT.— 13
‘‘(A) I
N GENERAL.—By not later than 14
March 15 of each year, the Commission shall 15
submit to Congress a report containing the re-16
sults and recommendations from the review 17
conducted under paragraph (1). 18
‘‘(B) I
NCLUSION OF RECOMMENDA -19
TIONS.—A recommendation may be included in 20
a report under subparagraph (A) if a simple 21
majority of the members of the Commission 22
vote to include the recommendation in the re-23
port. 24
‘‘(g) P
OWERS OFCOMMISSION.— 25
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‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission may— 1
‘‘(A) employ and fix the compensation of 2
an Executive Director (at a rate of pay not 3
greater than that provided for level III of the 4
Executive Schedule under section 5314 of title 5
5) and such other personnel as may be nec-6
essary to carry out the duties of the Commis-7
sion, without regard to the provisions of title 5 8
governing appointments in the competitive serv-9
ice; 10
‘‘(B) seek such assistance and support as 11
may be required in the performance of its du-12
ties from appropriate departments and agencies 13
of the United States or departments or agencies 14
of a State; 15
‘‘(C) enter into contracts or make other ar-16
rangements, as may be necessary for the con-17
duct of the work of the Commission (without 18
regard to section 3709 of the Revised Statutes 19
(41 U.S.C. 6101)); 20
‘‘(D) make advance, progress, and other 21
payments that relate to the work of the Com-22
mission; 23
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‘‘(E) provide transportation and subsist-1
ence for individuals serving the Commission 2
without compensation; and 3
‘‘(F) prescribe such rules and regulations 4
as the Commission determines necessary with 5
respect to the internal organization and oper-6
ation of the Commission. 7
‘‘(2) D
ATA COLLECTION.—In order to carry out 8
its functions, the Commission shall— 9
‘‘(A) utilize existing information, both pub-10
lished and unpublished, if possible, collected 11
and assessed either by its own staff or under 12
other arrangements made in accordance with 13
this section; 14
‘‘(B) carry out, or award grants or con-15
tracts for, original research and experimen-16
tation, if existing information is inadequate; 17
and 18
‘‘(C) adopt procedures allowing any inter-19
ested party to submit information for use by 20
the Commission in making reports and rec-21
ommendations. 22
‘‘(3) I
NFORMATION FROM FEDERAL AGEN -23
CIES.— 24
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‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission may 1
secure directly from any relevant department or 2
agency of the United States health care infor-3
mation the Chairman determines would be help-4
ful to enable the Commission to carry out this 5
section. 6
‘‘(B) T
IMING.—Upon request of the Chair-7
man, the head of a department or agency of the 8
United States shall furnish information re-9
quested under subparagraph (A) to the Com-10
mission on an agreed upon schedule or not later 11
than 180 days after the date of the request. 12
‘‘(h) C
OMPENSATION.— 13
‘‘(1) M
EMBERS.— 14
‘‘(A) I
N GENERAL.—While conducting the 15
business of the Commission (including travel 16
time), a member of the Commission shall be en-17
titled to compensation at the per diem equiva-18
lent of the rate provided for level IV of the Ex-19
ecutive Schedule under section 5315 of title 5. 20
‘‘(B) T
RAVEL EXPENSES .—While con-21
ducting the business of the Commission away 22
from home and the regular place of business of 23
the member, a member may be allowed travel 24
expenses, as authorized by the Chairman. 25
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‘‘(2) PHYSICIAN COMPARABILITY ALLOWANCE 1
FOR PERSONNEL.—The Commission may provide a 2
physician comparability allowance to physicians serv-3
ing as personnel of the Commission in the same 4
manner as physicians of the Federal Government 5
may be provided such an allowance by an agency 6
under section 5948 of title 5, and for such purpose, 7
subsection (i) of such section shall apply to the Com-8
mission in the same manner as it applies to the Ten-9
nessee Valley Authority. 10
‘‘(3) T
REATMENT OF PERSONNEL .—For pur-11
poses of pay (other than pay of members of the 12
Commission) and employment benefits, rights, and 13
privileges, all personnel of the Commission shall be 14
treated as if they were employees of the United 15
States Senate. 16
‘‘(i) D
ETAIL OFFEDERALEMPLOYEES.—An em-17
ployee of the Federal Government may be detailed to the 18
Commission without reimbursement and without interrup-19
tion or loss of civil service status or privileges. 20
‘‘(j) A
CCESS OFCONGRESSIONAL SUPPORTAGEN-21
CIES TOINFORMATION.—The Commission shall provide to 22
the Comptroller General, the Congressional Research 23
Service, and the Congressional Budget Office unrestricted 24
access to all deliberations, records, and nonproprietary 25
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data of the Commission not later than 30 days after such 1
access is requested. 2
‘‘(k) A
UTHORIZATION OFAPPROPRIATIONS.— 3
‘‘(1) R
EQUEST FOR APPROPRIATIONS .—The 4
Commission shall submit requests for appropriations 5
in the same manner as the Comptroller General sub-6
mits requests for appropriations, but amounts ap-7
propriated for the Commission shall be separate 8
from amounts appropriated for the Comptroller Gen-9
eral. 10
‘‘(2) A
UTHORIZATION.—There are authorized to 11
be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to 12
carry out this section.’’. 13
(b) C
LERICALAMENDMENT.—The table of sections 14
at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting 15
after the item relating to section 7310A the following new 16
item: 17
‘‘7310B. Veterans Health Administration Policy Advisory Commission.’’.
(c) INITIALAPPOINTMENT.—Not later than 280 days 18
after the date on which amounts are first appropriated 19
to the Veterans Health Administration Policy Advisory 20
Commission established under section 7310B of title 38, 21
United States Code, as added by subsection (a), the 22
Comptroller General of the United States shall make ini-23
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tial appointments of members to the Commission under 1
subsection (b)(1) of such section. 2
Æ
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