S. 787: VetPAC Act of 2025

The VetPAC Act hands one assignment to 17 appointees: study how the Veterans Health Administration runs, and tell Congress each year what should change. If you get your care through the VA, nothing about your benefits or eligibility changes — what changes is that a standing panel would report on how the system is performing by March 15 of every year.

Members would be chosen by the Comptroller General, who leads the Government Accountability Office, rather than by the VA. At least 2 of the 17 must be veterans. The rest of the qualifications are about experience: running or advising large medical systems, with expertise in areas such as quality of care, staffing, information technology, artificial intelligence in health care, supply chains, facility construction, research, and managed care networks.

The bill lists 12 topics the commission must return to periodically. Several are the ones patients notice first — access and wait times for primary and specialty care, referrals inside the VA and out to community care, quality of care, and patient satisfaction. Others sit behind the scenes: recruiting and keeping staff, electronic health records, buying medical supplies, the research program, hospital construction and leasing, and the long-term budget. The last topic is how VA care fits together with Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE, and commercial insurance.

The commission's power is to recommend, not to direct: a recommendation goes into the annual report when a simple majority of members votes for it, and acting on it is left to Congress and the VA. Before recommending anything, the commission has to examine what it would do to the budget.

S. 787 also tries to keep the new panel from repeating work already being done. The commission is told to rely on data the VA already has, including the independent assessments the department is already required to obtain, and to commission original research only where that information falls short. It must coordinate with the VA's inspector general so its reviews do not interfere with open investigations, and it must set up a way for any interested party to submit information.

The structure resembles the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, the 17-member body that advises Congress on Medicare and is also appointed by the Comptroller General. Members would serve staggered 5-year terms, file public financial disclosures, and meet at least once a year. The leaders of the House and Senate Veterans' Affairs Committees could ask for special studies on top of the annual report.