New Veteran Healthcare Commission Created: 17 Experts to Review VHA Wait Times, IT, and Staffing Annually

The newly proposed VetPAC Act of 2025 sets up a major new oversight body for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health system. It creates the Veterans Health Administration Policy Advisory Commission (VetPAC), a 17-member group tasked with giving the VHA a top-to-bottom performance review every year and sending actionable recommendations directly to Congress.

Think of this Commission as a high-level, independent audit team for the VHA. Its members, appointed by the Comptroller General, must be experts in managing complex medical systems—covering everything from IT and supply chains to quality of care and staffing. The bill mandates that at least two members must be veterans themselves, ensuring the perspective of those who actually use the system is represented. This isn’t just a rubber stamp committee; its core mission is to dissect how the VHA operates and report the findings, good or bad, to Capitol Hill.

The VHA’s Annual Report Card

What exactly will this Commission be looking at? Pretty much everything that affects a veteran’s experience. For anyone who has dealt with the frustrations of navigating the VHA, the Commission’s mandate covers all the pain points. They must periodically review the VHA’s electronic health records system (a perennial headache for many), the efficiency of referrals through the community care program, and perhaps most importantly, patient wait times for both primary and specialty care. For the VHA leadership, this means intense, mandated scrutiny of their most sensitive performance metrics.

The Commission is also required to look at the VHA’s workforce—how well they are hiring and retaining staff—and the long-term budget outlook. If you’re a veteran waiting for an appointment, this review could be a good thing, as it forces Congress to get an annual, expert-vetted snapshot of where the system is failing and what needs fixing. The Commission must submit its annual report to Congress by March 15th, complete with recommendations that have been approved by a majority of the members.

Power and Practicalities of the New Watchdog

To get its job done, the Commission is given some serious administrative muscle. For instance, they can hire their own staff without being bound by the usual competitive federal hiring rules, which should allow them to bring in specialized talent quickly. They can also directly compel other federal agencies to hand over necessary health care data, though the agencies have up to 180 days to comply. That 180-day window is a double-edged sword: it gives agencies time to gather complex data, but it also provides a long runway that could be used for delaying information if an agency is reluctant to cooperate.

In a move toward transparency, every single Commission member must file public financial disclosure reports. This is a crucial check, ensuring that the experts advising Congress on billions of dollars in healthcare spending don’t have undisclosed financial ties that could influence their recommendations. While this is good for public trust, it might deter some top-tier private sector experts who prefer to keep their finances private from joining the Commission. Ultimately, this bill creates a permanent, expert-driven mechanism designed to hold the VHA accountable to Congress, focusing on the real-world operational issues that affect veterans every day.