WASHINGTON -- Today the House passed H.R. 3230, the Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act which provides urgently needed reforms to our nation’s Department of Veterans Affairs. 

“I am proud that we were able to reach across party lines to get this done for our veterans,” said Rep. Wasserman Schultz (FL-23).  “In my district alone there are more than 30,000 veterans, many of whom are seniors living with conditions that require timely and regular medical care.  These brave Americans deserve the best care our nation can offer, and this bill is an important step in ensuring our VA system can provide for rapid, responsive, quality, comprehensive health care. We owe our veterans nothing less.”

In its final form, as agreed to by a Senate and House conference, this bill includes several provisions that will support the VA in properly serving those that have served us.  It ensures veterans will get timely care by allowing them to obtain health care at non-VA facilities if they live more than 40 miles from a clinic or an appointment at the VA clinic is not available within 30 days.  It promotes greater accountability within the VA by authorizing Secretary Robert McDonald – who was just confirmed by the Senate this week – to fire or demote senior agency officials based on poor performance or misconduct.  It also increases the capacity of the VA by providing $5 billion to hire new doctors and nurses and authorizing leases for the opening of 27 new VA facilities, one of which will be opened in Florida. This legislation also makes improvements to veteran education benefits, requiring public colleges to provide in-state tuition and expanding scholarship availability to post-9/11 G.I Bill recipients.