H.R. 6421 — Introduced in House

I 117th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 6421 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES January 19, 2022Mr. Baird (for himself, Mr. Mast, Mrs. Miller-Meeks, and Mr. Carbajal) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs A BILL To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to ensure the timely scheduling of appointments for health care at medical facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the VA Same-Day Scheduling Act of 2022. 2. Requirement for timely scheduling of appointments at medical facilities of Department of Veterans Affairs (a) Requirement Chapter 17 of title 38, United States Code, is amended— (1) by redesignating section 1706A as section 1706B; and (2) by inserting after section 1706 the following new section: 1706A. Management of health care: timely scheduling of appointments at Department facilities (a) Requirement for scheduling In managing the provision of hospital care and medical services at medical facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs under this chapter, the Secretary shall ensure that whenever a covered veteran contacts the Department by telephone to request the scheduling of an appointment for care or services for the covered veteran at such a facility, the scheduling for the appointment occurs during that telephone call (regardless of the prospective date of the appointment being scheduled). (b) Covered veteran defined In this section, the term covered veteran means a veteran who is enrolled in the system of patient enrollment of the Department under section 1705(a) of this title. . (b) Clerical amendment The table of sections at the beginning of such chapter is amended by striking the item relating to section 1706A and inserting the following new items: 1706A. Management of health care: timely scheduling of appointments at Department facilities. 1706B. Remediation of medical service lines. . (c) Applicability The amendments made by subsection (a) shall apply with respect to requests for appointment scheduling occurring on or after the date that is 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.