Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014
Latest action. Became public lawWhat a bill becomes when enacted, numbered by Congress and order of enactment: Public Law 119-4 is the 4th law of the 119th Congress.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) No: 113-146.
(This measure has not been amended since the Conference Report was filed in the House on July 28, 2014. The summary of that version is repeated here.)
Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 - Title I: Improvement of Access to Care from Non-Department of Veterans Affairs Providers - (Sec. 101) Requires hospital care and medical services to be furnished to veterans through agreements with specified non-Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities if the veterans:
have been unable to schedule an appointment at a VA medical facility within the Veterans Health Administration's (VHA's) wait-time goals for hospital care or medical services and such veterans opt for non-VA care or services;
reside more than 40 miles from a VA medical facility;
reside in a state without a VA medical facility that provides hospital care, emergency medical services, and surgical care and such veterans reside more than 20 miles from such a facility; or
reside within 40 miles of a VA medical facility but are required to travel by air, boat, or ferry to reach such facility or such veterans face an unusual or excessive geographical burden in accessing the facility.
Provides for such care through agreements with any health care provider participating in the Medicare program, any federally-qualified health center, the Department of Defense (DOD), and the Indian Health Service (IHS). Requires the VA to establish an electronic waiting list that is accessible, via a specified VA website, to veterans who have been unable to schedule an appointment at a VA medical facility within the VHA's wait-time goals so that they can make an informed choice of whether or not to receive care and services at non-VA facilities.
Requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide those non-VA medical facilities with information as to whether or not a veteran is covered under a health care plan not administered by the VA. Makes such health care plans primarily responsible for paying for the hospital care and medical services provided to veterans for non-service-connected disabilities if such plans cover such care and services.
The summary continues for 89 more paragraphs. Read it in full on Congress.gov
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Public Law" stage on August 7, 2014. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
This bill has been enacted. It is law.
The record's latest action, on August 7, 2014: Became Public Law No: 113-146.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
HAROLD ROGERS (R-KY) introduced it on October 2, 2013, and 2 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 2 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HousePassed
- SenatePassed
- PresidentSigned into law