Servicemember to Veteran Health Care Connection Act of 2025

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Bill ID: 119/s/585
Last Updated: March 18, 2026

Sponsored by

Sen. King, Angus S., Jr. [I-ME]

ID: K000383

Follow the money

The bill

Servicemember to Veteran Health Care Connection Act of 2025

S. 585, 119th Congress — read as touching Hospitals & Health Systems.

The sponsor

Sen. King, Angus S., Jr. [I-ME]

Every bill has someone who introduced it. That name is where the paper trail starts.

The money

$87,600 raised

24 itemised contributions to this sponsor, pulled from FEC filings.

The alignment

69% match to Project 2025

This bill's text tracks the "Introduction" section, p. 676-678 of the Mandate for Leadership.

Bill's Journey to Becoming a Law

Track this bill's progress through the legislative process

Latest Action

Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 119-86.

May 20, 2025

Introduced

Committee Review

📍 Current Status

Next: The bill moves to the floor for full chamber debate and voting.

🗳️

Floor Action

Passed Senate

🏛️

House Review

🎉

Passed Congress

🖊️

Presidential Action

⚖️

Became Law

📚 How does a bill become a law?

1. Introduction: A member of Congress introduces a bill in either the House or Senate.

2. Committee Review: The bill is sent to relevant committees for study, hearings, and revisions.

3. Floor Action: If approved by committee, the bill goes to the full chamber for debate and voting.

4. Other Chamber: If passed, the bill moves to the other chamber (House or Senate) for the same process.

5. Conference: If both chambers pass different versions, a conference committee reconciles the differences.

6. Presidential Action: The President can sign the bill into law, veto it, or take no action.

7. Became Law: If signed (or if Congress overrides a veto), the bill becomes law!

Bill Summary

Another exercise in legislative theater, courtesy of our esteemed Congress. Let's dissect this farce, shall we?

**Main Purpose & Objectives:** The Servicemember to Veteran Health Care Connection Act of 2025 aims to "facilitate enrollment" of separating servicemembers into the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) patient enrollment system. Because, you know, it's not like they're already overwhelmed with bureaucratic red tape.

**Key Provisions & Changes to Existing Law:** The bill establishes a pre-transition health care registration process, which automatically registers servicemembers 180 days before separation from the Armed Forces. The VA will then "facilitate" their enrollment in the patient enrollment system, because apparently, these individuals can't be trusted to fill out paperwork on their own.

Other provisions include:

* Outreach efforts to explain the registration process and available health care services (because, again, these individuals are clearly incapable of understanding complex information). * Definitions for "patient enrollment system" and "pre-transition health care registration system," because who doesn't love a good game of bureaucratic jargon?

**Affected Parties & Stakeholders:**

* Servicemembers separating from the Armed Forces (theoretically, they'll benefit from this streamlined process, but we all know how that usually goes). * The Department of Veterans Affairs (more paperwork and bureaucratic hoops to jump through – yay!). * Lobbyists and special interest groups (who will undoubtedly find ways to exploit this legislation for their own gain).

**Potential Impact & Implications:**

* More bureaucratic inefficiency: This bill adds another layer of complexity to an already convoluted system, ensuring that more taxpayer dollars will be wasted on administrative costs. * Increased dependency on government services: By "facilitating" enrollment, the VA is essentially creating a culture of dependency among servicemembers, rather than empowering them to take control of their own health care. * More opportunities for corruption and abuse: With increased funding and bureaucratic power comes more potential for waste, fraud, and abuse. Because, you know, that's exactly what our veterans need – more reasons to distrust the system.

In conclusion, this bill is a classic example of legislative malpractice. It's a Band-Aid solution that fails to address the underlying issues plaguing our veterans' health care system. But hey, at least it looks good on paper, right?

Related Topics

Military & Veterans Affairs
Generated using Llama 3.1 70B (Dr. Haus personality)

💰 Campaign Finance Network

Sen. King, Angus S., Jr. [I-ME]

Congress 119 • 2024 Election Cycle

Total Contributions
$87,600
17 donors
PACs
$0
Organizations
$9,900
Committees
$0
Individuals
$77,700

No PAC contributions found

1
THE CHICKASAW NATION
3 transactions
$6,600
2
2120 SEA ISLAND LLC
1 transaction
$3,300

No committee contributions found

1
SMITH, BRAD
2 transactions
$13,200
2
DOWNEY, NANCY A.
2 transactions
$10,000
3
BEKENSTEIN, ANITA
2 transactions
$6,600
4
ANDERSON, KATHLEEN K.
2 transactions
$6,600
5
ANDERSON, PAUL MILTON
2 transactions
$6,600
6
OTTEN, LESLIE B.
1 transaction
$5,000
7
BEKENSTEIN, JOSH
1 transaction
$3,300
8
HULL, BLAIR
1 transaction
$3,300
9
ABRAMS, JEFFREY
1 transaction
$3,300
10
BEEBE, MICHAEL
1 transaction
$3,300
11
BEEUWKES, NANCY
1 transaction
$3,300
12
BIRD, KRISTEN
1 transaction
$3,300
13
BRIDE, MARJORIE M.
1 transaction
$3,300
14
BUTLER, GILBERT
1 transaction
$3,300
15
KLARMAN, SETH
1 transaction
$3,300

Cosponsors & Their Campaign Finance

This bill has 3 cosponsors. Below are their top campaign contributors.

Sen. Rounds, Mike [R-SD]

ID: R000605

Top Contributors

10

1
SHAKOPEE MDEWAKANTON SIOUX COMMUNITY
OrganizationPRIOR LAKE, MN
$1,000
Nov 22, 2023
2
SHAKOPEE MDEWAKANTON SIOUX COMMUNITY
OrganizationPRIOR LAKE, MN
$1,000
Apr 30, 2024
3
CHOCTAW NATION OF OKLAHOMA
OrganizationDURANT, OK
$500
Nov 1, 2024
4
ROWAN, CAROLYN
CAROLYN ROWAN COLLECTIONOWNER
IndividualGREENWICH, CT
$6,600
Mar 30, 2023
5
ROWAN, MARC J
APOLLO MGMT.CEO
IndividualGREENWICH, CT
$6,600
Mar 30, 2023
6
HEGYI, ALBERT
1ST FINANCIAL BANKBANKER
IndividualSOUTHPORT, CT
$6,600
Aug 22, 2023
7
ROWAN, CAROLYN
CAROLYN ROWAN COLLECTIONOWNER
IndividualGREENWICH, CT
$6,600
Mar 30, 2023
8
ROWAN, MARC J
APOLLO MGMT.CEO
IndividualGREENWICH, CT
$6,600
Mar 30, 2023
9
HEGYI, ALBERT
1ST FINANCIAL BANKBANKER
IndividualSOUTHPORT, CT
$6,600
Aug 22, 2023
10
PFAUTCH, ROY
CIVIC SERVICE, INC.CONSULTANT
IndividualSAINT LOUIS, MO
$6,600
Feb 20, 2024

Sen. Cramer, Kevin [R-ND]

ID: C001096

Top Contributors

10

1
POARCH BAND OF CREEK INDIANS
OrganizationATMORE, AL
$3,300
Sep 29, 2023
2
POARCH BAND OF CREEK INDIANS
OrganizationATMORE, AL
$3,300
Jun 14, 2024
3
SISSETON-WAHPETON OYATE
OrganizationAGENCY VILLAGE, SD
$2,500
Jun 21, 2024
4
SHAKOPEE MDEWAKANTON SIOUX COMMUNITY
OrganizationPRIOR LAKE, MN
$1,000
Jun 18, 2024
5
SHAKOPEE MDEWAKANTON SIOUX COMMUNITY
OrganizationPRIOR LAKE, MN
$600
Jun 6, 2023
6
SHAKOPEE MDEWAKANTON SIOUX COMMUNITY
OrganizationPRIOR LAKE, MN
$400
Jun 6, 2023
7
WALSH, RICHARD
IndividualLAKE WORTH BEACH, FL
$6,700
Oct 16, 2024
8
JORDAN, BORIS
CURALEAFEXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD
IndividualBOCA RATON, FL
$6,600
Sep 15, 2023
9
SMITH, BRAD
MICROSOFT CORPORATIONATTORNEY
IndividualBELLEVUE, WA
$6,600
Sep 29, 2023
10
KAPLAN, DAVID
ARES MANAGEMENTCO-FOUNDER
IndividualLOS ANGELES, CA
$6,600
Oct 11, 2023

Sen. Duckworth, Tammy [D-IL]

ID: D000622

Top Contributors

10

1
AMERICAN EXPRESS
OrganizationNEWARK, NJ
$6,132
Feb 7, 2023
2
AMERICAN EXPRESS
OrganizationNEWARK, NJ
$605
Mar 3, 2023
3
CITIBUSINESS CARD
OrganizationCOLUMBUS, OH
$347
Jan 10, 2023
4
CITIBUSINESS CARD
OrganizationCOLUMBUS, OH
$254
Feb 7, 2023
5
AMERICAN EXPRESS
OrganizationNEWARK, NJ
$98
Jan 10, 2023
6
CITIBUSINESS CARD
OrganizationCOLUMBUS, OH
$74
Mar 3, 2023
7
KELLY, MICHAEL
WALKUP LAW FIRMATTORNEY
IndividualSAN FRANCISCO, CA
$3,300
Oct 7, 2024
8
LISTER, AMANDA
N/ANOT EMPLOYED
IndividualNEW YORK, NY
$3,300
Oct 17, 2024
9
SUMEY, ROGER
IndividualELLICOTT CITY, MD
$3,300
Oct 11, 2023
10
CHEN, QIANHUI
RENAISSANCE TECHNOLOGIES LLCANALYST
IndividualSETAUKET, NY
$3,300
Mar 2, 2024

Donor Network - Sen. King, Angus S., Jr. [I-ME]

PACs
Organizations
Individuals
Politicians

Hub layout: Politicians in center, donors arranged by type in rings around them.

Loading...

Showing 50 nodes and 33 connections (52 secondary connections hidden)

Total contributions: $106,284

Top Donors - Sen. King, Angus S., Jr. [I-ME]

Showing top 17 donors by contribution amount

2 Orgs15 Individuals

Industry Impact

Which industries are materially affected by specific provisions in this bill. 1 helped.

  • Section 2(a)(1) establishes a pre-transition health care registration system for separating service members, facilitating enrollment in the VA patient enrollment system, which will increase demand for VA health care services provided by hospitals and health systems.

Project 2025 Policy Matches

This bill shows semantic similarity to the following sections of the Project 2025 policy document.

Introduction

Moderate68.5%
Pages: 676-678

— 644 — Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise In sum, the VA for the foreseeable future will experience significant fiscal, human capital, and infrastructure crosswinds and risks. Budgets are at historic highs, and with a workforce now above 400,000, the VA is contending with a lack of new veteran enrollees to offset the declining population of older veterans. Recruitment of medical and benefits personnel has become more challenging. Veterans are migrating from the northern states to the southern and western states for retirement and employment. Meanwhile, VA information technol- ogy (IT) is struggling to keep pace with the evolution of patient care and record keeping. Consequently, VA leaders in the next Administration must be wise and courageous political strategists, experienced managers to run day-to-day oper- ations more effectively, innovators to address the changing veteran landscape, and agile “fixers” to mitigate and repair systemic problems created or ignored by the present leadership team. VETERANS HEALTH ADMINISTRATION (VHA) Needed Reforms l Rescind all departmental clinical policy directives that are contrary to principles of conservative governance starting with abortion services and gender reassignment surgery. Neither aligns with service-connected conditions that would warrant VA’s providing this type of clinical care, and both follow the Left’s pernicious trend of abusing the role of government to further its own agenda. l Focus on the effects of shifting veteran demographics. At least during the next decade, the VA will experience a significant generational shift in its overall patient population. Of the approximately 18 million veterans alive today, roughly 9.1 million are enrolled for VA health care, and 6.4 million of these enrollees use VA health care consistently. These 6.4 million veterans are split almost evenly between those who are over age 65 and those who are under age 65, but the share of VA’s health care dollars is spent predominantly in the over-65 cohort. That share increases significantly as veterans live longer and use the VHA system at a higher rate. VHA enrollments of new users are increasingly at risk of being exceeded by the deaths of current enrollees, primarily because significant numbers of the Vietnam generation are reaching their life expectancy. The generational transition from Vietnam-era veterans to post-9/11 veterans will take several years to complete. The ongoing demographic transition is a catalyst for needed assessments of how the VA can improve the delivery of care to a numerically declining and differently dispersed national population — 645 — Department of Veterans Affairs of veterans—a population that is more active, reaching middle age or retirement age, and migrating for lifestyle and career reasons. At the center of the VHA’s evolution during this generational transition is an ongoing tension, some of it politically contrived, between Direct Care for Veterans provided from inside the VHA system and Community Care for Veterans who are referred to private providers participating in the VHA’s two Community Care Networks (CCNs). In recent years, the budget for Community Care has grown as demand from veterans has risen sharply, sometimes outpacing the budgets for Community Care at individual VAMCs. The Trump Administration made Community Care part of its “Veteran- centric” approach to ensure that veterans would be able to participate more fully in their health care decisions and have options if or when the VHA was unable to meet their needs. The Biden Administration has watered down that effort, has sought various procedural ways to slow the rate of referrals to private doctors, and at some facilities is reportedly manipulating the Community Care access standards required by the VA MISSION Act of 2018. If the makeup of Congress is favorable in 2025, the next Administration should rapidly and explicitly codify VA MISSION Act access standards in legislation to prevent the VA from avoiding or watering down the requirements in the future. First and foremost, a veterans bill of rights is needed so that veterans and VA staff know exactly what benefits veterans are entitled to receive, with a clear process for the adjudication of disputes, and so that staff ensure that all veterans are informed of their eligibility for Community Care. Currently, veterans are not routinely and consistently told that they are eligible for Community Care unless they request information or are given a referral. l To strengthen Community Care, the next Administration should create new Secretarial directives to implement the VA MISSION Act properly. Sections for consideration and areas for reform include the following: 1. Sections 101 and 103 (Community Care eligibility for access standards and the best medical interest of the veteran). 2. Section 104 (Community Care access standards and standards for quality of care).

Introduction

Moderate64.3%
Pages: 679-681

— 646 — Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise 3. Section 121 (developing and administering an education program that teaches veterans about their health care options available from the Department of Veterans Affairs). 4. Section 152 (returning the Office for Innovation of Care and Payment to the Office of Enterprise Integration with a joint governance process set up with the VHA). 5. Section 161 (overhauling Family Caregiver Program expansion, which has gone poorly, so that it focuses on consistency of eligibility and awareness that the most severely wounded or injured may require the program indefinitely). l Require the VHA to report publicly on all aspects of its operation, including quality, safety, patient experience, timeliness, and cost-effectiveness, using standards similar to those in the Medicare Accountable Care Organization program so that the government may monitor and achieve continuous improvement in the VA system more effectively. l Encourage VA Medical Centers to seek out relevant academic and private- sector input in their communities to improve the overall patient experience. Budget l Conduct an independent audit of the VA similar to the 2018 Department of Defense (DOD) audit to identify IT, management, financial, contracting, and other deficiencies. l Assess the misalignment of VHA facilities and rising infrastructure costs. The VHA operates 172 inpatient medical facilities nationally that are an average of 60 years old. Some of these facilities are underutilized and inadequately staffed. Facilities in certain urban and rural areas are seeing significant declines in the veteran population and strong competition for fresh medical staff. In 2018, Congress authorized an Asset Infrastructure Review (AIR) of national VHA medical markets to provide insight into where the VA health care budget should be responsibly allocated to serve veterans most effectively. However, the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee lacked the political will to act on the White House’s nominations of commission members, and this ultimately led to termination of the AIR process. The next Administration should seek out agile, creative, and politically acceptable operational solutions to this aging infrastructure status quo,

Introduction

Moderate64.3%
Pages: 679-681

— 646 — Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise 3. Section 121 (developing and administering an education program that teaches veterans about their health care options available from the Department of Veterans Affairs). 4. Section 152 (returning the Office for Innovation of Care and Payment to the Office of Enterprise Integration with a joint governance process set up with the VHA). 5. Section 161 (overhauling Family Caregiver Program expansion, which has gone poorly, so that it focuses on consistency of eligibility and awareness that the most severely wounded or injured may require the program indefinitely). l Require the VHA to report publicly on all aspects of its operation, including quality, safety, patient experience, timeliness, and cost-effectiveness, using standards similar to those in the Medicare Accountable Care Organization program so that the government may monitor and achieve continuous improvement in the VA system more effectively. l Encourage VA Medical Centers to seek out relevant academic and private- sector input in their communities to improve the overall patient experience. Budget l Conduct an independent audit of the VA similar to the 2018 Department of Defense (DOD) audit to identify IT, management, financial, contracting, and other deficiencies. l Assess the misalignment of VHA facilities and rising infrastructure costs. The VHA operates 172 inpatient medical facilities nationally that are an average of 60 years old. Some of these facilities are underutilized and inadequately staffed. Facilities in certain urban and rural areas are seeing significant declines in the veteran population and strong competition for fresh medical staff. In 2018, Congress authorized an Asset Infrastructure Review (AIR) of national VHA medical markets to provide insight into where the VA health care budget should be responsibly allocated to serve veterans most effectively. However, the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee lacked the political will to act on the White House’s nominations of commission members, and this ultimately led to termination of the AIR process. The next Administration should seek out agile, creative, and politically acceptable operational solutions to this aging infrastructure status quo, — 647 — Department of Veterans Affairs reimagine the health care footprint in some locales, and spur a realignment of capacity through budgetary allocations. Specifically: 1. Embrace the expansion of Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs) as an avenue to maintain a VA footprint in challenging medical markets without investing further in obsolete and unaffordable VA health care campuses. 2. Explore the potential to pilot facility-sharing partnerships between the VA and strained local health care systems to reduce costs by leveraging limited talent and resources. Personnel l Extend the term of the Under Secretary for Health (USH) to five years. Additionally, authority should be given to reappoint this individual for a second five-year term both to allow for continuity and to protect the USH from political transition. l Establish a Senior Executive Service (SES) position of VHA Care System Chief Information Officer (CIO), selected by and reporting to the chief of the VHA Care System with a dotted line to the VA CIO. l Identify a workflow process to bring wait times in compliance with VA MISSION Act–required time frames wherever possible. 1. Assess the daily clinical appointment load for physicians and clinical staff in medical facilities where wait times for care are well outside of the time frames required by the VA MISSION Act. 2. Require VHA facilities to increase the number of patients seen each day to equal the number seen by DOD medical facilities: approximately 19 patients per provider per day. Currently, VA facilities may be seeing as few as six patients per provider per day. 3. Consider a pilot program to extend weekday appointment hours and offer Saturday appointment options to veterans if a facility continues to demonstrate that it has excess capacity and is experiencing delays in the delivery of care for veterans. 4. Identify clinical services that are consistently in high demand but require cost-prohibitive compensation to recruit and retain talent, and examine exceptions for higher competitive pay.

Showing 3 of 5 policy matches

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Policy matches are calculated using semantic similarity between bill summaries and Project 2025 policy text. A score of 60% or higher indicates meaningful thematic overlap. This does not imply direct causation or intent, but highlights areas where legislation aligns with Project 2025 policy objectives.

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