The VA Mission Act of 2018 was signed into law to improve veteran access to healthcare. It addresses issues like in-network and non-VA care, veterans' homes, walk-in VA care, and prescription drugs. The Act contains five titles that focus on expanding care options, improving VA facilities, increasing healthcare professionals, addressing underserved areas, and other administrative details. It aims to remove limitations that previously forced veterans to wait for VA appointments or travel long distances to receive care.

1. T H E V A
M I S S I O N A C T
W H A T I T M E A N S F O R V E T E R A N S
M I C H A E L G . S H E P P A R D

2. In recent news, the VA Mission Act of 2018 has been
signed into law. There have been several questions
surrounding this law that should be addressed. To
understand what the law will do and how it will impact
others, it is important to understand what the VA Mission
Act is. On June 6th, 2018, President Trump signed the act
into law. According to militarybenefits.info, the new law
is “designed to greatly improve veteran access to VA
healthcare… The VA Mission Act addresses in-network
and non-VA healthcare issues, veterans’ homes, access to
walk-in VA care, prescription drug procedures, and much
more.”

3. To know what impact this law has,
one must explore the multiple
components of the text and each
one’s intended purpose. The Act is
broken down into five parts:
Title I – the Caring For Our Veterans
Act of 2018
Title II – the VA Asset and
Infrastructure (AIR) Review Act
Title III – Improvements to
Recruitment of Health Care
Professionals
Title IV – Health Care in Underserved
Areas
Title V – Other Matters

4. There are sixty-three sections under
this first title and they all focus on the
health care that veterans have access
to. Originally, veterans would have to
wait until a VA health care provider
would be available and drive to the
location to receive care. This first title
aims to remove those limitations by
having the VA coordinate the
veterans’ care and required to
“ensure the scheduling of medical
appointments in a timely manner,”
“ensure continuity of care and
services,” “coordinate coverage for
veterans who utilize care outside of a
region from where they reside,” and
“ensure veterans do not experience a
lapse in health care services.”

5. There are only eleven sections under
the second title and their focus is to
create and Asset and Infrastructure
Review (AIR) Commission in addition
to providing a general plan to
accomplish everything that Title I
aims to complete. In section 202, the
act outlines the President’s
responsibilities for appointing and
nominating individuals for this
commission. Section 205 goes into
detail about what the VA must be
required to do, such as consult with
governors and the heads of local
governments “for the purpose of
considering the continued
availability of a road for public access
through, into, or around a VHA facility
that is to be modernized or
realigned.”

6. Title III has six sections which mostly
focuses on how the VA will recruit
more health care professionals.
Medical students that agree to work
for the VA will receive scholarships
and the amount of education debt
that will be reduced has increased.
Title IV is similar in the fact that there
are only three sections and their goal
is to provide the medical students
with graduate educations and
residencies along with addressing the
problems with under-served facilities.
Lastly, Title V contains eleven sections
that are the small details to serve as
an end cap for this act. This is where
authorization of $5.2 billion will go to
the Veterans Choice Fund and extend
current eligibility restriction for
certain recipients of a VA pension.