Improving Veteran Access to Care Act

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Bill ID: 119/s/607

Last Updated: July 17, 2026

Improving Veteran Access to Care Act

S. 607, 119th Congress — read as touching Hospitals & Health Systems.

The sponsor

Sen. Hassan, Margaret Wood [D-NH]

Every bill has someone who introduced it. That name is where the paper trail starts.

The money

$67,600 raised

20 itemised contributions to this sponsor, pulled from FEC filings.

The alignment

85% match to Project 2025

This bill's text tracks the "Department of Veterans Affairs" section, p. 688-691 of the Mandate for Leadership.

Bill's Journey to Becoming a Law

Track this bill's progress through the legislative process

Latest Action

Held at the desk.

December 18, 2025

Introduced

📍 Current Status

Next: The bill will be reviewed by relevant committees who will debate, amend, and vote on it.

🏛️

Committee Review

🗳️

Floor Action

✅

Passed Senate

🏛️

House Review

🎉

Passed Congress

🖊️

Presidential Action

⚖️

Became Law

📚 How does a bill become a law?

1. Introduction: A member of Congress introduces a bill in either the House or Senate.

2. Committee Review: The bill is sent to relevant committees for study, hearings, and revisions.

3. Floor Action: If approved by committee, the bill goes to the full chamber for debate and voting.

4. Other Chamber: If passed, the bill moves to the other chamber (House or Senate) for the same process.

5. Conference: If both chambers pass different versions, a conference committee reconciles the differences.

6. Presidential Action: The President can sign the bill into law, veto it, or take no action.

7. Became Law: If signed (or if Congress overrides a veto), the bill becomes law!

Bill Summary

Summary Style:

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [S. 607 Engrossed in Senate (ES)]

<DOC> 119th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 607

_______________________________________________________________________

AN ACT

To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish and implement a plan to improve the process for s...

💰 Campaign Finance Network

Sen. Hassan, Margaret Wood [D-NH]

Congress 119 • 2024 Election Cycle

Total Contributions

$67,600

16 donors

PACs

Organizations

Committees

Individuals

$67,600

No PAC contributions found

No organization contributions found

No committee contributions found

WOODS, ANDREW L.

2 transactions

$8,200

KORN, WILLIAM T.

2 transactions

$6,600

GEPHARDT, RICHARD

2 transactions

$6,600

ESTES, J. NORMAN

2 transactions

$6,600

BEKENSTEIN, ANITA

1 transaction

$3,300

BEKENSTEIN, JOSH

1 transaction

$3,300

HUNTER, DANIEL

1 transaction

$3,300

KLARMAN, SETH

1 transaction

$3,300

SCHWARTZ, GABRIEL

1 transaction

$3,300

SWINDELL, C. DAVID

1 transaction

$3,300

RYAN, MICHAEL

1 transaction

$3,300

YOUNGMAN, ANDREW

1 transaction

$3,300

BARROSSE, DAVID E.

1 transaction

$3,300

EMERSON, WILLIAM

1 transaction

$3,300

KRAMER, ROBERT

1 transaction

$3,300

LOVIER, HEATHER

1 transaction

$3,300

Cosponsors & Their Campaign Finance

This bill has 3 cosponsors. Below are their top campaign contributors.

Sen. Boozman, John [R-AR]

ID: B001236

Top Contributors

CHEROKEE NATION

OrganizationTAHLEQUAH, OK

$3,300

Oct 3, 2024

SHAKOPEE MDEKEWAKANTON COMMUNITY

OrganizationPRIOR LAKE, MN

$3,300

Nov 7, 2023

SHAKOPEE MDEKEWAKANTON COMMUNITY

OrganizationPRIOR LAKE, MN

$3,300

Jun 27, 2024

BJERKE, TYLER

HERITAGE INSURANCE SERVICES • SALES

IndividualFARGO, ND

$5,000

Mar 22, 2023

LEPRINO, TERRY

LEPRINO FARMS • BOARD DIRECTOR

IndividualDENVER, CO

$3,300

Dec 6, 2024

POWELL, JESSE

PAYWARD INC. • CEO

IndividualSAN FRANCISCO, CA

$3,300

Nov 5, 2024

POWELL, JESSE

PAYWARD INC. • CEO

IndividualSAN FRANCISCO, CA

$3,300

Nov 5, 2024

STEPHENS, WARREN MR.

STEPHENS INC • PRESIDENT

IndividualLITTLE ROCK, AR

$3,300

Jul 7, 2023

STEPHENS, WARREN MR.

STEPHENS INC • PRESIDENT

IndividualLITTLE ROCK, AR

$3,300

Jul 7, 2023

WALTON, ALICE L.. MS.

SELF-EMPLOYED • PHILANTHROPIST

IndividualBENTONVILLE, AR

$3,300

Aug 11, 2023

Sen. Moran, Jerry [R-KS]

ID: M000934

Top Contributors

BORCK, LEON H.

INNOVATIVE LIVESTOCK SERVICES • EXECUTIVE

IndividualMANHATTAN, KS

$6,600

Mar 11, 2024

MANDELBLATT, DANIELLE

DMM PROPRIETA MANAGEMENT • MANAGER

IndividualASPEN, CO

$6,600

Sep 26, 2024

MANDELBLATT, ERIC

SOROBAN CAPITAL PARTNERS LP • MANAGING PARTNER

IndividualASPEN, CO

$6,600

Sep 26, 2024

CATZ, SAFRA

ORACLE CORPORATION • CEO

IndividualWASHINGTON, DC

$5,000

May 5, 2023

MISSION INDIANS, MORONGO BAND OF

INDIAN TRIBE • INDIAN TRIBE

IndividualBANNING, CA

$5,000

Aug 13, 2024

WILLIS, THOMAS M

CONESTOGA ENERGY PARTNERS • CEO

IndividualLIBERAL, KS

$5,000

Aug 26, 2024

WEILERT, STANLEY R

S&B MOTELS, INC. • HOTELIER

IndividualWICHITA, KS

$3,500

Jun 26, 2023

BORCK, JACKIE

KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY • DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY RELATIONS

IndividualMANHATTAN, KS

$3,300

Mar 11, 2024

BORCK, JACKIE

KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY • DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY RELATIONS

IndividualMANHATTAN, KS

$3,300

Mar 11, 2024

THOMAS, ROBERT

SENIOR STAR • CO-OWNER

IndividualTULSA, OK

$3,300

Feb 22, 2024

Sen. Blumenthal, Richard [D-CT]

ID: B001277

Top Contributors

OLSON, LYNDON

NOT EMPLOYED • NOT EMPLOYED

IndividualWACO, TX

$3,300

Dec 20, 2024

ALIX, JAY

ALIX PARTNERS • FOUNDER

IndividualBIRMINGHAM, MI

$3,300

Oct 2, 2023

KIM, CHRISTINE M.

BBB LLC • ATTORNEY

IndividualNEW YORK, NY

$3,300

Oct 31, 2023

ALIX, JAY

ALIX PARTNERS • FOUNDER

IndividualBIRMINGHAM, MI

$3,300

Apr 15, 2024

ROURE, RITA

PAGNY - LINCOLN HOSPITAL • PHYSICIAN

IndividualGREENWICH, CT

$3,300

Apr 10, 2024

ROURE, RITA

PAGNY - LINCOLN HOSPITAL • PHYSICIAN

IndividualGREENWICH, CT

$3,300

Apr 10, 2024

CHAVEZ, TOM

KRUX INC. • CEO

IndividualSAN FRANCISCO, CA

$3,300

Jul 13, 2024

CHAVEZ, TOM

KRUX INC. • CEO

IndividualSAN FRANCISCO, CA

$3,300

Jul 13, 2024

JONES, JERRY C.

LIVERAMP INC. • EXECUTIVE

IndividualLITTLE ROCK, AR

$3,300

Sep 19, 2024

NESSEL, ARIEL

NESSEL DEVELOPMENT • OWNER

IndividualROSS, CA

$3,300

Jul 12, 2024

Donor Network - Sen. Hassan, Margaret Wood [D-NH]

Show Also Donated To

PACs

Organizations

Individuals

Politicians

Hub layout: Politicians in center, donors arranged by type in rings around them.

Showing 50 nodes and 54 connections

Total contributions: $54

Top Donors - Sen. Hassan, Margaret Wood [D-NH]

Showing top 16 donors by contribution amount

16 Individuals

Industry Impact

Which industries are materially affected by specific provisions in this bill. 3 helped.

+Hospitals & Health Systemsconfidence 0.90
Section 2(a) requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit a plan to improve the process for scheduling appointments for health care from the Department of Veterans Affairs, including improvements for both patients and employees responsible for scheduling. This plan aims to improve delivery of health care, access, customer experience, and efficiency, which would benefit hospitals and health systems that provide care to veterans through VA contracts or partnerships.
+Health Insuranceconfidence 0.85
Section 2(b)(1)(A) includes actions, resources, technology, and process improvements to ensure improved delivery of health care, access, customer experience, and efficiency. Improved VA scheduling could reduce reliance on private health insurance for veterans seeking care, but more directly, it may increase demand for coordinated care services that health insurers manage or partner with, representing a potential benefit.
+Medical Devicesconfidence 0.70
Section 2(b)(1)(A) references improvements to delivery of health care and efficiency, which could involve adoption of medical devices for telehealth, remote monitoring, or diagnostic tools integrated into scheduling platforms. While not explicit, the focus on technology and process improvements creates opportunity for medical device manufacturers to supply VA facilities.

Who funds the sponsor on these industries

For each industry this bill affects, here's what the sponsor (Sen. Hassan, Margaret Wood [D-NH])received from donors associated with that industry during the 2022–present cycles. Donations are not proof of intent — they are a record of who funds the people writing the law.

Industries this bill HELPS

Health Insurance$49,900
from 33 contributions
- KOZIARA-BOUDREAUX, GAIL$6,600
- HAYTAIAN, PETER$3,300
- NORWOOD, FELICIA$3,300
- TODT, BLAIR$3,300
- KECK, KIM$2,500

Project 2025 Policy Matches

This bill shows semantic similarity to the following sections of the Project 2025 policy document.AI-enhanced analysis provides detailed alignment ratings.

Department of Veterans Affairs

Strong

Vector: 65%

Pages: 688-691AI Enhanced

AI Analysis:

"The bill requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish and implement a plan to improve the process for scheduling and delivering veterans' healthcare services, which directly aligns with Project 2025's objective to reform and modernize VA healthcare delivery, reduce wait times, and improve patient experience through systemic operational improvements."

Key themes:VA healthcare reformpatient experience improvementservice delivery efficiencyVA operational modernization

Department of Veterans Affairs

Strong

Vector: 62%

Pages: 688-691AI Enhanced

AI Analysis:

"The bill directs the VA to create and implement a plan to improve its processes, which directly supports Project 2025's goal of reforming the Department of Veterans Affairs to enhance efficiency, accountability, and service delivery for veterans."

Key themes:Veterans Affairsprocess improvementservice deliveryaccountabilityveteran benefits

— 655 — Department of Veterans Affairs ENDNOTES 1. U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Division, VHA Directive 1003, “VHA Veteran Patient Experience,” April 14, 2020, pp. 1 and B-1. 2. S. 2372, VA Mission Act of 2018, Public Law No. 115-182, 115th Congress, June 6, 2018, https://www.congress. gov/115/plaws/publ182/PLAW-115publ182.pdf (accessed January 30, 2023). 3. U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, VA History Office, “VA History,” last updated May 27, 2021, https://www. va.gov/HISTORY/VA_History/Overview.asp (accessed January 28, 2023). 4. 38 U.S. Code § 1116, https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/38/1116 (accessed January 28, 2023). 5. S. 3373, Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act of 2022 (Honoring Our PACT Act of 2022), Public Law No. 117-168, 117th Congress, August 10, 2022, https://www. congress.gov/117/plaws/publ168/PLAW-117publ168.pdf (accessed January 28, 2023). 6. H.R. 2471, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022, Public Law No. 117-103, 117th Congress, March 15, 2022, Division S, Title I, https://www.congress.gov/117/plaws/publ103/PLAW-117publ103.pdf (accessed March 18, 2023). Known variously as the Department of Veterans Affairs Nurse and Physician Assistant Retention and Income Security Enhancement Act and the VA Nurse and Physician Assistant RAISE Act. 7. See note 5, supra. — 657 — Section Four THE ECONOMY The next Administration must prioritize the economic prosperity of ordi- nary Americans. For several decades, establishment “elites” have failed the citizenry by refusing to secure the border, outsourcing manufacturing to China and elsewhere, spending recklessly, regulating constantly, and generally controlling the country from the top down rather than letting it flourish from the bottom up. The proper role of government, as was articulated nearly 250 years ago, is to secure our God-given, unalienable rights in order that we might enjoy the pursuit of happiness, the benefits of free enterprise, and the blessings of liberty. Finding the right approach to trade policy is key to the fortunes of everyday Americans. In Chapter 26, president of the Competitive Enterprise Institute Kent Lassman and former White House director of trade and manufacturing policy Peter Navarro debate what an effective conservative trade policy would look like. Lass- man argues that the best trade policy is a humble, limited-government approach that would encourage free trade with all nations. He maintains that aggressive trade policies involve an increased government role that future leftist Administra- tions will utilize to push “climate change” and “equity”-based activism. Focusing more on gross domestic product (GDP) growth than on median income, he writes that “people mistakenly believe that U.S. manufacturing and the U.S. economy are in decline” when in truth “American manufacturing output is currently at an all-time high.” Meanwhile, we continue to experience “record-setting real GDP” despite our “long-run decline in manufacturing employment.” Lassman does not think that an aggressive U.S. trade policy would lead to more manufacturing jobs. Rather, he writes, “Federal Reserve research shows” that the

Department of Veterans Affairs

Moderate

Vector: 63%

Pages: 679-681AI Enhanced

AI Analysis:

"The bill requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a plan to improve the process for [incomplete text], which appears to relate to veterans' healthcare access or administration. This aligns moderately with Project 2025's VA objectives, particularly around improving healthcare delivery, accountability, and operational efficiency, though the bill's full scope is unclear due to truncation."

Key themes:veterans healthcareprocess improvementVA accountabilityhealthcare accessoperational efficiency

Department of Veterans Affairs

Moderate

Vector: 62%

Pages: 679-681AI Enhanced

AI Analysis:

"The bill focuses on improving the process for veterans' service-related disability claims, which aligns broadly with Project 2025's goals of enhancing VA healthcare access and efficiency, though it does not directly address the specific subsections cited (e.g., education programs, innovation office restructuring, or caregiver program overhaul)."

Key themes:veterans healthcare accessVA process improvementservice delivery efficiency

— 646 — Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise 3. Section 121 (developing and administering an education program that teaches veterans about their health care options available from the Department of Veterans Affairs). 4. Section 152 (returning the Office for Innovation of Care and Payment to the Office of Enterprise Integration with a joint governance process set up with the VHA). 5. Section 161 (overhauling Family Caregiver Program expansion, which has gone poorly, so that it focuses on consistency of eligibility and awareness that the most severely wounded or injured may require the program indefinitely). l Require the VHA to report publicly on all aspects of its operation, including quality, safety, patient experience, timeliness, and cost-effectiveness, using standards similar to those in the Medicare Accountable Care Organization program so that the government may monitor and achieve continuous improvement in the VA system more effectively. l Encourage VA Medical Centers to seek out relevant academic and private- sector input in their communities to improve the overall patient experience. Budget l Conduct an independent audit of the VA similar to the 2018 Department of Defense (DOD) audit to identify IT, management, financial, contracting, and other deficiencies. l Assess the misalignment of VHA facilities and rising infrastructure costs. The VHA operates 172 inpatient medical facilities nationally that are an average of 60 years old. Some of these facilities are underutilized and inadequately staffed. Facilities in certain urban and rural areas are seeing significant declines in the veteran population and strong competition for fresh medical staff. In 2018, Congress authorized an Asset Infrastructure Review (AIR) of national VHA medical markets to provide insight into where the VA health care budget should be responsibly allocated to serve veterans most effectively. However, the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee lacked the political will to act on the White House’s nominations of commission members, and this ultimately led to termination of the AIR process. The next Administration should seek out agile, creative, and politically acceptable operational solutions to this aging infrastructure status quo, — 647 — Department of Veterans Affairs reimagine the health care footprint in some locales, and spur a realignment of capacity through budgetary allocations. Specifically: 1. Embrace the expansion of Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs) as an avenue to maintain a VA footprint in challenging medical markets without investing further in obsolete and unaffordable VA health care campuses. 2. Explore the potential to pilot facility-sharing partnerships between the VA and strained local health care systems to reduce costs by leveraging limited talent and resources. Personnel l Extend the term of the Under Secretary for Health (USH) to five years. Additionally, authority should be given to reappoint this individual for a second five-year term both to allow for continuity and to protect the USH from political transition. l Establish a Senior Executive Service (SES) position of VHA Care System Chief Information Officer (CIO), selected by and reporting to the chief of the VHA Care System with a dotted line to the VA CIO. l Identify a workflow process to bring wait times in compliance with VA MISSION Act–required time frames wherever possible. 1. Assess the daily clinical appointment load for physicians and clinical staff in medical facilities where wait times for care are well outside of the time frames required by the VA MISSION Act. 2. Require VHA facilities to increase the number of patients seen each day to equal the number seen by DOD medical facilities: approximately 19 patients per provider per day. Currently, VA facilities may be seeing as few as six patients per provider per day. 3. Consider a pilot program to extend weekday appointment hours and offer Saturday appointment options to veterans if a facility continues to demonstrate that it has excess capacity and is experiencing delays in the delivery of care for veterans. 4. Identify clinical services that are consistently in high demand but require cost-prohibitive compensation to recruit and retain talent, and examine exceptions for higher competitive pay.

Department of Veterans Affairs

Weak

Vector: 62%

Pages: 685-687AI Enhanced

AI Analysis:

"The bill focuses on improving the VA's process for scheduling medical appointments, which is unrelated to the Project 2025 policy objectives concerning labor relations, civil service reform, and organizational restructuring within the VA."

Key themes:Department of Veterans Affairsorganizational efficiency

— 653 — Department of Veterans Affairs l Manage the relationship with organized labor effectively and proactively. 1. Ensure that any agenda that includes labor/civil service reform in the VA has a clear direction from the Secretarial level, support from the General Counsel, alignment with the Assistant Secretary for Human Resources and Administration, and a unified and strong political will to carry it out. Without those elements, labor reforms are very difficult to accomplish. 2. Ensure that each senior leader in the process gets buy-in from reform- minded career employees willing to accept and support change. Those mid-level and senior-level managers exist, but they will need to be identified early and shown trust and confidence. 3. Ensure that the White House communicates the labor reform agenda swiftly. Trump Administration executive orders on civil service reform (official time, government-furnished office space) were issued too late, and departments and agencies were not prepared to execute them. 4. Anticipate the inevitable opportunities for legal challenges from organized labor, and be prepared for them to happen and be dragged out—which makes early, decisive timing all the more important. 5. Ensure that the White House is prepared to support a concerted and deliberate effort on implementation to avoid perceptions of a disconnected strategy and disaggregated effort. 6. Remain mindful of which labor contracts end, when they end, and what the agency’s goals for renegotiation are. If not done effectively, contract end dates will be missed or lack notification. It is therefore essential to have a clear strategy with respect to what leadership wants from a new contract: Do not make the perfect the enemy of the good in contract negotiations. l Work with Congress to sunset the Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection (OAWP). OAWP was well intentioned when formed, but it is redundant with the activities of supervisors as well as equal employment opportunity, Office of the Inspector General, Office of Special Counsel, and other policies, programs, and procedures for holding employees accountable. This redundancy results in lengthy investigations, gaps in coverage, and an overall ineffective method of employee and supervisor accountability. — 654 — Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise l Consider decoupling HRA and the Office of Security and Preparedness (OSP). When Congress directed that the OAWP be established, it did not include authorities for a new Assistant Secretary position; consequently, the OSP was combined with HRA to free a PAS position. The functions of HRA and OSP are dissimilar and thus create an organization that is difficult to staff with the talent needed to execute both missions effectively. AUTHOR’S NOTE: The preparation of this chapter was a collective enterprise of individuals involved in the 2025 Presidential Transition Project. All contributors to this chapter are listed at the front of this volume, but Darin Selnick, Paul R. Lawrence, and Christopher Anderson deserve special mention. The author alone assumes responsibility for the content of this chapter, and no views expressed herein should be attributed to any other individual.

Showing 3 of 5 policy matches

About These Correlations

Policy matches are calculated using a hybrid approach: initial candidates are found using semantic similarity between bill summaries and Project 2025 policy text, then an AI model (Llama 3.1 70B) provides detailed alignment ratings and analysis. Ratings range from 1 (minimal alignment) to 5 (very strong alignment). This analysis does not imply direct causation or intent.

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