SCHEDULES Act of 2026

Standardized Care Timing: The Secretary must establish a comprehensive standard for the time between a referral and an appointment, whether the care is at a Department facility or in the community (Section 2(a)(1)). This creates a baseline for how quickly veterans should receive care.

Increased Transparency: The Secretary is required to publish standards in the Federal Register and on a public website (Section 2(a)(3)). Furthermore, reports on how many referrals meet the standard must be made publicly available on a Veterans Health Administration website (Section 2(b)(4)).

Accountability through Reporting: The Secretary must submit quarterly reports to Congress that include the number and percentage of referrals that meet the standard (Section 2(b)(1)). This includes specific data regarding the three-business-day standard for Department facilities and the seven-calendar-day standard for community care (Section 2(b)(2)(A)).

Visibility of Performance Trends: Reports must include a list of all medical centers ranked from best to worst in meeting the timing standard, including a list disaggregated by State (Section 2(b)(2)(C)). This allows for the identification of high-performing and low-performing locations.

Focus on High-Demand Areas: Data must be disaggregated by at least five in-demand categories of care, such as mental health, cardiology, neurology, or oncology (Section 2(b)(2)(B)). This ensures that the timeliness of critical services is tracked specifically.