Senator Hassan’s Bipartisan Bill to Make it Easier for Veterans to Schedule Medical Appointments Advances out of Committee

Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Also Advances Additional Hassan-Led Bills
WASHINGTON – Yesterday, the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee (SVAC) unanimously voted to advance bipartisan legislation led by U.S. Senators Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and John Boozman (R-AR) to improve the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) health care scheduling process so that veterans can easily schedule multiple visits at once through one phone call or online.
“Our veterans should not have to navigate a maze of scheduling systems to get the health care that they’ve earned and deserve,”said Senator Hassan. “This bipartisan legislation will create a one-stop scheduling solution that will make it easier for veterans, particularly those traveling long distances from rural communities, to access quality health care. I am glad to see this commonsense bill advance, and I will continue working to get it signed into law.”
Currently, veterans do not have access to one centralized platform to schedule appointments for many types of VA-based specialty care. Veterans often prefer to schedule many of their appointments for the same day – in order to avoid multiple trips to the VA – but they frequently have to call individual clinics to set up appointments for specialty care. Attempting to coordinate multiple appointments through multiple phone calls and trips places a burden on all veterans, but particularly on veterans who must travel a long distance for appointments. TheImproving Veteran Access to Care Actwould address this issue by requiring the VA to create a streamlined scheduling system where veterans can easily view and schedule appointments for all types of VA care.
In addition to theImproving Veteran Access to Care Act, the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee also voted to advance the following bipartisan bills that Senator Hassan has led on:
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