Description:
S. 2041 would require the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to document and report to the Congress annually on the department’s enforcement of requirements for the licensing, education, and clinical competence of its medical staff. For this estimate, CBO assumes that the bill will be enacted in fiscal year 2022. Using information from VA, CBO expects that the department would need to hire three full-time-equivalent employees, at an average annual salary of $100,000, to conduct audits and prepare reports. CBO estimates that compensation and operating expenses for those employees would total $2 million over the 2022‑2026 period. The bill also would require VA to provide annual training for employees who will review and verify credential standards of VA’s health care professionals. (Under current law, VA provides one-time training.) In addition, under S. 2041, the department would be required to report to the Congress on VA’s policies for reporting concerns about patient safety. Using information from VA, CBO estimates that those activities would cost less than $500,000 over the 2022‑2026 period. In total, CBO estimates, implementing the bill would cost $3 million over the 2021-2026 period; such spending would be subject to the availability of appropriations.
