Protecting Veteran Community Care Act
Introduced May 22, 2025 by Sen. Steve Daines
It's waiting on a committee vote to reach the full chamber. Most bills never leave this stage.
Protecting Veteran Community Care Act
This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to furnish residential mental health or substance-use services to certain veterans through the Veterans Community Care Program (VCCP). Specifically, the VA must furnish such care if a veteran (1) meets VA criteria for priority admission to a VA Mental Health Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Program and the VA is unable to accommodate priority admission, or (2) has contacted the VA to request such mental health services and the VA is not able to furnish such services in a manner that complies with VA access standards for specialty care provided under the VCCP.
The VA must ensure that a referral to an alternate Mental Health Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Program does not take precedence over timely access to mental health or substance-use services unless the referral is requested by the veteran.
The VA is prohibited from determining a veteran is ineligible for VCCP care solely because VCCP providers are unable to comply with wait times or access standards.
Read the full summary on Congress.govSummary by the Congressional Research Service.
No floor votes yet — it hasn't reached the floor of either chamber.