VA Data Transparency and Trust Act

Key Points

• The bill requires the VA to submit detailed annual reports to Congress for five years covering veteran health care, including data on chronic conditions like traumatic brain injury, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer among veterans receiving care.
• The VA must report on the quality of care at its facilities, including hospital-acquired infection rates and veteran satisfaction at both VA and non-VA facilities, giving Congress a clearer picture of how well the system is performing.
• The Veterans Benefits Administration would have to include far more data in its annual report, covering disability claims processing times, reevaluations, staffing levels, and compensation breakdowns by disability rating for fiscal years going back to 2000.
• Two new data sharing systems would be created to give outside researchers access to anonymized VA data, modeled after the Medicare Data Sharing for Performance Measurement Program, while protecting personally identifiable information.
• The bill requires detailed reporting on VA facility management, including construction dates, renovation history, maintenance costs, occupancy rates, and any equipment purchases over $20,000, giving Congress more oversight of VA infrastructure spending.