Rural Veterans’ Improved Access to Benefits Act of 2025
Officially: “Rural Veterans’ Improved Access to Benefits Act of 2025” Read the full text
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1Short title
This section would let the Act be cited as the Rural Veterans' Improved Access to Benefits Act of 2025.
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1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Rural Veterans’ Improved Access to Benefits Act of 2025 .
2Improvements to temporary licensure requirements for contract health care professionals who perform medical disability examinations for the Department of Veterans Affairs
This section would change the temporary licensure rules that let the Department of Veterans Affairs use contract health care professionals to conduct medical disability examinations, under the authority in section 504 of the Veterans' Benefits Improvements Act of 1996 as previously modified by the Johnny Isakson and David P. Roe, M.D. Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2020. It would replace the definition of a qualifying health care professional under that authority. Under the new definition, a person would qualify if they are eligible for appointment to a Veterans Health Administration position covered by section 7402(b) of title 38, United States Code, and they hold a current, unrestricted license to practice their health care profession, and they are not barred from practicing that profession in any state, and they are performing authorized duties for the Department under a contract entered into under section 504(a). This would replace the earlier, narrower definition, which covered only physicians assistants, nurse practitioners, audiologists, and psychologists, so the temporary licensure authority would extend to a broader range of contract health care professionals. This expanded definition would remain subject to the existing sunset date for the underlying authority. The section would also change that sunset date: instead of the authority ending five years after the enactment of the 2020 Act, it would end on January 5, 2031. It would also update a related reference elsewhere in the 2020 Act so that it uses the term health care professionals instead of naming physicians assistants, nurse practitioners, audiologists, and psychologists, matching the broader definition. Finally, not later than 15 months after this Act's enactment, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs would have to submit a report to the House and Senate Committees on Veterans' Affairs about the use of this contract examination authority, covering the one-year period after enactment. The report would have to include the number of examinations conducted under such contracts; the cost, timeliness, and legal adequacy of those examinations, broken down separately by health care professional and by contract; the number of such examinations conducted in each state, the District of Columbia, and each commonwealth, territory, or possession of the United States; the numbers of each kind of health care professional who conducted such examinations; the number of examinations that were erroneously conducted by a health care professional who either lacked a required contract or was not authorized to enter into one; and the Secretary's plan to correct errors in the use of this authority.
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2. Improvements to temporary licensure requirements for contract health care professionals who perform medical disability examinations for the Department of Veterans Affairs (a) Expansion Section 504 of the Veterans’ Benefits Improvements Act of 1996 ( Public Law 104–275 ; 38 U.S.C. 5101 note), as amended by paragraph (1) of subsection (a) of section 2002 of the Johnny Isakson and David P. Roe, M.D. Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2020 ( Public Law 116–315 ; 38 U.S.C. 5101 note), is further amended, subject to the sunset in paragraph (4) of such subsection, by striking paragraph (2) of subsection (c) and inserting the following: (2) Health care professional described A health care professional described in this paragraph is a person who is eligible for appointment to a position in the Veterans Health Administration covered by section 7402(b) of title 38, United States Code, who— (A) has a current and unrestricted license to practice the health care profession of the health care professional; (B) is not barred from practicing such health care profession in any State; and (C) is performing authorized duties for the Department pursuant to a contract entered into under subsection (a). . (b) Delayed sunset of amendment Paragraph (4) of subsection (a) of section 2002 of the Johnny Isakson and David P. Roe, M.D. Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2020 ( Public Law 116–315 ; 38 U.S.C. 5101 note) is amended by striking On the date that is five years after the date of the enactment of this Act and inserting On January 5, 2031 . (c) Conforming amendment Paragraph (2) of such subsection is amended by striking physicians assistants, nurse practitioners, audiologists, and psychologists and inserting health care professionals . (d) Report Not later than 15 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and House of Representatives a report regarding the use of the authority under section 504 of the Veterans’ Benefits Improvements Act of 1996 ( Public Law 104–275 ; 38 U.S.C. 5101 note), as temporarily amended by section 2002(a)(1) of the Johnny Isakson and David P. Roe, M.D. Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2020 ( Public Law 116–315 ; 38 U.S.C. 5101 note) and this section. Such report shall include, with respect to the one-year period after the date of the enactment of this Act, the following elements: (1) The number of examinations conducted pursuant to a contract under such authority. (2) The cost, timeliness, and legal adequacy of such examinations, disaggregated by— (A) health care professional; and (B) contract. (3) The number of such examinations conducted in each State, the District of Columbia, or a Commonwealth, territory, or possession of the United States. (4) The numbers of each kind of health care professionals who conducted such examinations. (5) The number of examinations that were erroneously conducted by a health care professional— (A) without such a contract; or (B) unauthorized to enter into such a contract. (6) The plan of the Secretary to correct errors in the use of such authority.
Where it is
In the House.