[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4977 Introduced in House (IH)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4977

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to ensure that each medical 
     facility of the Department of Veterans Affairs complies with 
     requirements relating to scheduling veterans for health care 
 appointments, to improve the uniform application of directives of the 
                  Department, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 18, 2016

Mrs. Walorski introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to ensure that each medical 
     facility of the Department of Veterans Affairs complies with 
     requirements relating to scheduling veterans for health care 
 appointments, to improve the uniform application of directives of the 
                  Department, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``VA Scheduling Accountability Act''.

SEC. 2. COMPLIANCE WITH SCHEDULING REQUIREMENTS.

    (a) Annual Certification.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall 
        ensure that the director of each medical facility of the 
        Department of Veterans Affairs annually certifies to the 
        Secretary that the medical facility is in full compliance with 
        all provisions of law and regulations relating to scheduling 
        appointments for veterans to receive hospital care and medical 
        services, including pursuant to Veterans Health Administration 
        Directive 2010-027, or any successor directive.
            (2) Prohibition on waiver.--The Secretary may not waive any 
        provision of the laws or regulations described in paragraph (1) 
        for a medical facility of the Department if such provision 
        otherwise applies to the medical facility.
    (b) Explanation of Noncompliance.--If a director of a medical 
facility of the Department does not make a certification under 
subsection (a)(1) for any year, the director shall submit to the 
Secretary a report containing--
            (1) an explanation of why the director is unable to make 
        such certification; and
            (2) a description of the actions the director is taking to 
        ensure full compliance with the laws and regulations described 
        in such subsection.
    (c) Annual Report.--The Secretary shall annually submit to the 
Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives and the 
Senate a report containing, with respect to the year covered by the 
report--
            (1) a list of each medical facility of the Department for 
        which a certification was made under subsection (a)(1); and
            (2) a list of each medical facility of the Department for 
        which such a certification was not made, including a copy of 
        each report submitted to the Secretary under subsection (b).

SEC. 3. UNIFORM APPLICATION OF DIRECTIVES AND POLICIES OF DEPARTMENT OF 
              VETERANS AFFAIRS.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall ensure 
that the directives and policies of the Department of Veterans Affairs 
apply to each office or facility of the Department in a uniform manner.
    (b) Notification.--If the Secretary does not uniformly apply the 
directives and policies of the Department pursuant to subsection (a), 
including by waiving such a directive or policy with respect to an 
office, facility, or element of the Department, the Secretary shall 
notify the Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the House of 
Representatives and the Senate of such nonuniform application, 
including an explanation for the nonuniform application.
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