§2.Improvements to annual reports on the Veterans Benefits Administration and the Veterans Health Administration
This section revises the annual report requirements on the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and the furnishing of hospital care, medical services, and nursing home care by requiring the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit such reports annually to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Senate for five years beginning on the date of enactment of the VA Data Transparency and Trust Act, with each report covering the preceding calendar year.
Each report must include the following elements: (1) total number of veterans receiving such care; (2) health status information, including incidence rates of major chronic conditions (i.e., traumatic brain injury, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer); (3) demographic information disaggregated by age, service period (active duty or Reserve component), and sex; (4) information on care furnished to Post-9/11 Global Operations period veterans (as defined in 38 U.S.C. 3105), veterans with mental health conditions (including traumatic brain injury and suicidal ideation), polytrauma, spinal cord injury or dysfunction, service-connected disabilities (including average care costs), and homeless veterans (including average age, geographic locations, average homelessness duration, and service periods); (5) details on veterans receiving long-term care, including demographics, common chronic illnesses, average copayments, types of care, and State home funding levels; (6) number of new enrollments in the patient enrollment system (38 U.S.C. 1705) disaggregated by priority group, age, sex, annual income, and non-VA health insurance; (7) average time between separation from service and enrollment or first receipt of care for such enrollees; (8) total number of visits to Department facilities for such care; (9) summary of care types furnished (i.e., inpatient, outpatient, prescription drugs, mental health, primary care); (10) percentage of care for service-connected versus non-service-connected disabilities; and (11) prescription drug details, including total prescriptions dispensed by location (inpatient, community-based outpatient clinic, non-Department facility, mail-order) and average prescription terms.