S. 4229 — SCHEDULES Act of 2026

This section requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a comprehensive standard for the maximum time between a veteran's referral entry in the VA care coordination system and the resulting appointment, whether at a VA facility or through community care. (As background, VA currently maintains separate wait-time standards of three business days for primary and specialty care appointments at VA facilities and seven calendar days for community care referrals; this new standard applies Department-wide, with authority for the Secretary to modify it as scheduling processes are updated, subject to publication in the Federal Register and on a VA website at least 30 days in advance.) This section further requires the Secretary to submit quarterly reports to Congress on compliance—covering the number and percentage of referrals meeting the new standard, the three-business-day standard, and the seven-calendar-day standard, disaggregated by VA facility and by each facility's five most in-demand care categories (e.g., mental health, cardiology, neurology, oncology)—including a ranking of all VA medical centers from best to worst (disaggregated by state). Annual reports must also include four-quarter aggregated data, descriptions of improvement steps taken, and an estimated date for full Department compliance; all reports must be publicly posted on the Veterans Health Administration website.