[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 89 (Tuesday, May 23, 2017)]
[House]
[Pages H4467-H4468]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
VA SCHEDULING ACCOUNTABILITY ACT
Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and
pass the bill (H.R. 467) 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.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 467
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) Prohibition on Bonuses Based on Noncompliance.--
(1) In general.--If a director of a medical facility of the
Department does not make a certification under subsection
(a)(1) for any year, each covered official described in
paragraph (2) may not receive an award or bonus under chapter
45 or 53 of title 5, United States Code, or any other award
or bonus authorized under such title or title 38, United
States Code, during the year following the year in which the
certification was not made.
(2) Covered official.--A covered official described in this
paragraph is each official who serves in the following
positions at a medical facility of the Department during a
year, or portion thereof, for which the director does not
make a certification under subsection (a)(1):
(A) The director.
(B) The chief of staff.
(C) The associate director.
(D) The associate director for patient care.
(E) The deputy chief of staff.
(d) Annual Report.--The Secretary shall annually submit to
the Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the House of
Representative 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. STANDARDIZED 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, and are implemented by, each
office or facility of the Department in a standardized
manner, including such offices and facilities at the local
level.
(b) Notification.--If the Secretary does not apply and
implement the directives and policies of the Department in a
standardized manner pursuant to subsection (a), including by
waiving such a directive or policy with respect to an office
or facility of the Department, the Secretary shall notify the
Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the House of
Representatives and the Senate of such nonstandardized
application or implementation, including an explanation for
the nonstandardized application or implementation, as the
case may be.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Tennessee (Mr. Roe) and the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Walz) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Tennessee.
General Leave
Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their
remarks and include extraneous material.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Tennessee?
There was no objection.
Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 467, a bill that would codify
the VA's own directives for outpatient scheduling into law.
In June of 2010, the Veterans Health Administration issued VHA
Directive 2010-27, VHA Outpatient Scheduling Processes and Procedures.
This directive requires VHA facility directors to annually certify that
their facility is in full compliance with the scheduling procedures
outlined within the directive.
It is important to note that this directive was issued 4 years before
the scheduling scandal at the Phoenix VA broke, with no less than 40
veterans dying while being kept on secret lists, waiting for an
appointment. I believe this directive was a responsible way for the VA
to ensure that veterans were receiving the care that they came to the
VA for and were not slipping through the cracks.
Unfortunately, in May of 2013, then-Deputy Under Secretary for Health
at the VA waived this requirement for the VA medical facility directors
to adhere to the directive. As we now know, this waiver helped cover a
practice of malfeasance within scheduling departments at VA medical
facilities across the Nation.
As I mentioned before, in 2014, the House Committee on Veterans'
Affairs, with my friend, former Chairman Jeff Miller at the helm,
discovered secret waiting lists at the Phoenix VA, as well as many
other medical centers across the country. Had this directive still been
in place, I honestly believe the scandal could have been prevented.
Mr. Speaker, it is incumbent upon us to ensure that these scheduling
processes do not and cannot be dismissed by VA bureaucrats ever again.
I thank my good friend and former committee member, Representative
Jackie Walorski from Indiana, for sponsoring this legislation.
Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to join me in supporting
H.R. 467, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. WALZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I associate myself with the comments of Chairman Roe and
I support H.R. 467. I also thank the gentlewoman from Indiana (Mrs.
Walorski) for crafting this. She was, and still remains, a staunch
supporter of veterans, always advocating for them. She taught me much,
including, I think, the definition of Hoosier. I am still a little
confused on that one, but we are working on it.
By holding the VA leadership accountable, we can ensure that the VA
is accessible to all veterans. While the VA has made progress to
shorten wait times, we cannot rest on our laurels. If one veteran's
health is compromised because she or he was unable to receive timely
care, then the VA has failed in its mission.
Mr. Speaker, for that reason, I ask my colleagues to stand in support
of Mrs. Walorski's bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman
from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis), the vice chair and one of the most active
members of the committee.
Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate Mrs. Walorski doing an
outstanding job with this bill. The chairman and the ranking member are
champions of veterans.
Again, I rise today in support of H.R. 467, the VA Scheduling
Accountability Act, because all veterans deserve timely access to
quality health care.
In 2014, the House Veterans' Affairs Committee uncovered the use of
unauthorized waiting lists at the Phoenix VA healthcare system in
Phoenix, Arizona. As a result of these waiting lists, no less than 40
veterans died while waiting for care.
This is unacceptable. It is heartbreaking and completely, as I said,
unacceptable. These are true American heroes, and we cannot allow
something like this to ever happen again.
Our investigations found that noncompliance with the VA's scheduling
[[Page H4468]]
policies was a widespread and systematic problem. This bill today
requires that all VA medical center directors certify each year that
their facility is in compliance with the scheduling directive. If a VA
medical center is found noncompliant, H.R. 476 will hold those leaders
accountable.
Our bill makes certain that those who fail in their duty to serve our
veterans will not be receiving bonuses or awards anytime soon. Lack of
oversight, lack of accountability, and lack of transparency led to the
2014 wait-times crisis. The VA Scheduling Accountability Act will help
ensure those mistakes are not repeated, and improve access to timely
care for our Nation's heroes.
Again, I thank the sponsor of the bill, Mrs. Walorski. It is one of
the most important bills that we will pass this year, in my opinion,
and I urge its passage.
Mr. WALZ. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the
gentlewoman from Indiana (Mrs. Walorski), the sponsor of the bill and a
former member of the committee.
Mrs. WALORSKI. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Roe and Ranking Member
Walz. What an honor it is to work with these two gentlemen on veterans'
issues.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my bill, H.R. 467, the VA
Scheduling Accountability Act.
This commonsense legislation codifies an important measure of
oversight and accountability of VA facilities to prevent scheduling
manipulation or, in the vernacular, ``cooking the books,'' that has
harmed veterans for so long.
Hearings held by the House VA Committee and investigations by the VA
inspector general and the GAO have, unfortunately, confirmed many of
the allegations of cooking books and falsified wait-time data at
facilities around the country.
The VA has a procedure for scheduling veterans' medical appointments,
which includes 19 different items, such as ensuring that a patient's
desired appointment date is not altered and that staff are fully
trained. Importantly, the directive requires each facility to certify
compliance with all of these 19 items every year.
However, an August 2014 VA inspector general report uncovered that,
in May 2013, a senior VA official waived the certification requirement
that year, essentially putting the facility on an honor system,
allowing them to self-certify.
Without this crucial accountability mechanism, bad actors were given
free rein to manipulate wait-time data and ignore the VA's required
scheduling practices. Meanwhile, veterans faced significant delays in
getting the care they needed while, in some extreme cases, veterans
died.
Since that time, the VA has reinstated the certification
requirements. However, serious problems remain, as evidenced by a
recent VA investigation of a clinic in my own district that I requested
after some brave individuals came forward with allegations of
wrongdoing.
{time} 1515
The VA found that the clinic scheduled appointments for veterans
without the veterans' knowledge and canceled them on the day of the
appointment in order to fill their schedule for that day. If the VA had
conducted proper audits of that facility's scheduling practices last
year, this misconduct could have been prevented. The VA's report
recommended a review of scheduling compliance for all medical
facilities in the region.
The VA's continued inability to reform itself from within is the
reason we need to pass this bill. This bill will require each facility
director to annually certify compliance with the current scheduling
directive or any successive directive that replaces it, and, most
importantly, it will prohibit any future waivers. The bill also
provides accountability by making a director ineligible for salary
bonuses if their facility fails to certify compliance, and it requires
the VA to report to Congress a list of these facilities that are not in
compliance. This will provide more oversight of the VA, ensure that
Congress is aware of noncompliant facilities, and end the reckless
practice of self-certification.
Mr. Speaker, our veterans risked life and limb for our freedom, but
too often the VA has let them down. It is time to put an end to this
scheduling manipulation--the cooking of the books--and the false wait-
time data.
Holding every VA facility accountable for following scheduling rules
is an important, commonsense step as we work to fix the VA so it works
for the veterans in our country.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 467, the VA
Scheduling Accountability Act.
Mr. WALZ. Mr. Speaker, again, I thank the gentlewoman from Indiana
for her passion and for the chairman to bring this commonsense
accountability piece to the floor.
I encourage my colleagues to support it, and I yield back the balance
of my time.
Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, once again, I encourage all
Members to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my
time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Roe) that the House suspend the rules and
pass the bill, H.R. 467.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and
nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.
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