Reducing Military Health Care Wait Times Act

This Act may be cited as the “Reducing Military Health Care Wait Times Act”.

The Congress finds the following:

(1) Our uniformed service-members, veterans, and their families deserve high-quality, timely health care.

(2) The annual TRICARE Program Evaluation Report to Congress required by section 171 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1996 (10 U.S.C. 1073 note) provides Congress and the public with critical information about the effectiveness of our military health care programs and identifies opportunities for improvement.

(3) In the Fiscal Year 2024 TRICARE Program Evaluation Report of the Defense Health Agency, such Agency voluntarily provided helpful information about—

(A) the average number of days between the date an individual books an appointment at a military medical treatment facility and the date of such appointment; and

(B) the percentage of referrals of an individual to another health care facility that are made not later than one business day after the date on which such individual contacted the military medical treatment facility.

(4) This information is valuable to Congress and the public, and it should be statutorily required as part of the annual TRICARE Program Evaluation Report.

Section 1073b(b)(1) of title 10, United States Code, is amended—

(1) by striking “The Secretary” and inserting “(A) The Secretary”; and

(2) by striking “Such data” and all that follows and inserting the following new subparagraph:

“(B) The data made available under subparagraph (A) shall include the following:

(i) The core performance metrics adopted by the Secretary under section 728 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (Public Law 114–328; 130 Stat. 2234).

(ii) The average number of days between the date an individual books an appointment at a military medical treatment facility and the date of such appointment.

(iii) The percentage of referrals of an individual to another health care facility that are made not later than one business day after the date on which such individual contacted the military medical treatment facility.”.