S. 3653 — Veterans’ Bill of Rights Act of 2026

This section states congressional findings that (1) the United States has a solemn obligation, articulated by President Abraham Lincoln, to care for veterans who have borne the battle and for their widows and orphans; (2) transitioning veterans deserve timely access to Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care, benefits, and information, as well as respect, dignity, and transparency in VA interactions; and (3) veterans’ rights must be codified to ensure VA accountability and consistent nationwide administration of benefits and services.

This section establishes a Veterans’ Bill of Rights to inform veterans of 10 specified rights regarding health care, benefits, and services administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), including access to VA or authorized providers, respect and dignity, informed consent, awareness and access to benefits, care without retaliation, privacy, grievance redress, transparent communication, and appeal rights. The VA Secretary must (1) integrate these rights into all department policies, directives, patient materials, and employee training; (2) provide annual training to all employees on these rights; (3) prominently display them at VA facilities and on VA.gov; (4) coordinate with the Secretaries of Defense and Labor to add a dedicated module on these rights to the Transition Assistance Program (TAP) curriculum under 10 U.S.C. §1144 (i.e., a program providing separating service members and spouses with counseling, employment and training assistance, and related services); (5) not later than 180 days after enactment, make these rights accessible via a prominent feature in the VA mobile app and eBenefits portal (or successor); (6) require each VA medical facility to designate a patient advocate or ombudsman for annual compliance audits using veteran surveys and grievance data; and (7) include a rights summary in all claim acknowledgments and health care applications, emphasizing transparent communication and grievance redress. This section specifies that it creates no new causes of action or changes to statutory eligibility requirements.