U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-La) has expressed his frustration that veterans are having trouble getting services from the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) health care system. So Cassidy says that led him to take action. “I’m introducing two bills requiring outside groups to assess the quality of care veterans receive.”
The first bill is called the VetPAC Act. Sen. Cassidy and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) introduced the proposed legislation that would create a new Veterans Health Administration Policy Advisory Commission (VetPAC). Senate Bill 787 stipulates that this commission would be comprised of medical experts and veterans who would review the VHA, to provide regular reports to Congress. As the Louisiana Radio Network reports, Cassidy explained, “They will be tasked with kind of deciding how to improve critical areas of veterans health care experience. That includes the technology, the staffing. Most importantly, it all comes down to patient care.”
The other bill Sen. Cassidy has introduced, along with Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.), is the Veterans Mental Health and Addiction Therapy Quality of Care Act (Senate Bill 702) “It requires an independent organization to assess the quality of care veterans receive for mental health and for addiction treatment from the VA and compare that to other providers.” Cassidy is a member of the U.S. Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee. In January, he reintroduced the VA Accountability Act. “to strengthen accountability by unlocking expedited disciplinary processes for VA employees who fail to adequately serve veterans.”
In 2022, the Senate unanimously approved Cassidy’s Solid Start Act aimed at strengthening the VA’s Solid Start program to contact every veteran three times by phone in the first year after they leave active duty. It is intended to help connect veterans with VA programs and benefits, including mental health resources.
