House Refers VA Reform Bill to Conference Committee

Press Release

The House voted today to send the Veterans' Access to Care through Choice, Accountability, and Transparency Act of 2014, which contains critical components co-sponsored by Daines, to a conference committee with the Senate.

The Veterans' Access to Care through Choice, Accountability, and Transparency Act of 2014 contains provisions from two bills Daines helped cosponsor and pass through the House: the Veterans Access to Care Act (H.R. 4810) and the Department of Veterans Affairs Management Accountability Act (H.R. 4301).

"The reports of mismanagement, secret waiting lists and a lack of accountability at the VA have shown that our veterans haven't been receiving the convenient access to quality care that deserve," Daines said. "I'm glad to see the Senate working with the House as we push ahead in our effort to reform the Department of Veterans Affairs to better serve all of our nation's veterans and treat them with the respect, dignity and honor that they earned in service to our nation."

H.R. 4810 would require the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to offer non-VA care at the department's expense to any enrolled veteran who cannot get an appointment within the VA wait time goals, currently 14 days, or who lives more than 40 miles away from a VA medical facility. It passed with unanimous support.

H.R. 4301 would address the widespread and systemic lack of accountability for senior executives in the VA by giving the VA Secretary more latitude to discipline and fire executives who presided over negligence or mismanagement. The House passed this legislation with strong bipartisan support: 390-33.

Daines has long called for reforms to address longstanding delays in addressing veterans' benefits claims and to ensure that the VA more efficiently and effectively meets Montana veterans' needs.

He was among the first House members to call for VA Secretary Eric Shinseki's resignation and also helped pass the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations bill, which provides $7.5 billion for programs designed to address veterans' mental health needs and increases funding for suicide prevention outreach by $20 million.

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