Banks Introduces Bill To Strengthen Oversight Of VA Health Care

Last updated on Monday, May 7, 2018

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - Congressman Jim Banks (IN-03), a member of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, today introduced the Department of Veterans Affairs Oversight Enhancement Act to address and mitigate the current high-risk rating of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) health care.

"While the VA has made progress over the past 16 months, there are still several long-standing issues within the VA that need to be addressed," said Banks. "This legislation will increase oversight of the VA's health care operations so we can find ways to eliminate fraud, waste and abuse in the Department. Ensuring our veterans receive high-quality care, not high-risk care, must be a top priority for Congress."

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) designated VA-provided health care as a high-risk area on its 2015 High Risk List. This designation indicates that the VA is at high risk for fraud, waste and abuse. The legislation introduced by Congressman Banks aims to address this by implementing the following requirements:

Requires the VA Secretary to compose a report to Congress reviewing the actions that the Department has taken to implement a High Risk Action Plan and comply with the criteria established by the GAO for removal from the High Risk List.
Requires the VA Secretary to report to Congress on the implementation status of all open priority GAO recommendations for the Department.
Requires the GAO to assess the VA's implementation of the High Risk Action Plan to be removed from the GAO High Risk

Congressman Seth Moulton (MA-06) is the lead Democratic cosponsor of the bill. Senators Todd Young (R-IN) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) have introduced companion legislation in the Senate.

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