VA Data Transparency and Trust Act
VA Data Transparency and Trust Act would (1) require much more detailed, annual reporting from the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) to Congress, expanding the scope of data on veteran health care, demographics, costs, care types, and program utilization; and (2) establish a data sharing system that allows researchers to access aggregated, anonymized VA data under strict security rules. The bill creates a long, specific list of data elements to be included in the new VHA annual report and adds a substantial new section to VBA’s annual benefits reporting, detailing demographics, disability ratings, compensation, claims processing times, staffing, and related metrics. It also directs the VA to harmonize reporting with related laws and programs (e.g., MISSION Act, Honoring our PACT Act) and to consider existing Medicare data-sharing frameworks for its system. The data-sharing provisions are designed to improve transparency while protecting veterans’ privacy—no personally identifiable information would be accessible, and data would use unique identifiers for individuals. In short, the bill aims to greatly increase Congressional visibility into VA health and benefits programs by requiring comprehensive data in annual reports and by enabling vetted researchers to analyze de-identified VA data, subject to robust privacy protections and security standards.
Key Points
- 1Comprehensive annual reporting for VHA: The act rewrites Sec. 7330B to require a detailed, year-by-year report on hospital, medical, and nursing home care, including health status, demographics, care utilization, costs, patient outcomes, and program-specific metrics (e.g., Post-9/11 veterans, homelessness, long-term care, prescription drugs, diagnostic services, and care in Department vs. non-Department facilities).
- 2Expanded VBA annual reporting: Adds a new Sec. 7735 requiring VBA to publish extensive data in its Annual Benefits Report, such as overall benefit recipients, benefit types, disability ratings and reassessments, compensation amounts by category, pension and DIC data, new and supplemental claims processing times, VBA staffing, and historical data on disability reevaluations and compensation trends.
- 3Data sharing system for researchers: The Secretary must create a data sharing system to provide aggregated, anonymized VA data to eligible researchers (with strict data security protections and safeguards). It references alignment with the CMS Medicare Data Sharing for Performance Measurement Program as a model and ensures that no personally identifiable information is accessible, with each data subject assigned a unique identifier.
- 4Five-year window and first-year scope: The reporting requirements are set to run from enactment for five years, with the first report covering the calendar year of enactment and the preceding five years, and subsequent reports covering the calendar year in which they are submitted.
- 5Privacy and data controls: The bill specifies that shared data must be aggregated/anonymized, no PII (personally identifiable information) is accessible, and individuals in the data set are assigned unique identifiers to protect identity.