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Read. Follow. Verify.Ensuring Veterans Timely Access to Anesthesia Care Act of 2025
Last action · June 11, 2025: Subcommittee Hearings HeldSponsors: Lauren Underwood and 16 others
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What This Bill Would Do
This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to update its anesthesia practice standards to match those used by the Defense Health Agency. It establishes new certification and direct-care requirements for anesthesia providers and mandates annual public reports from the GAO comparing the costs and outcomes of different anesthesia care models.
The bill changes the professional status of certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs) within the VA to 's' and mandates specific certification and clinical hour requirements for all anesthesia providers, which directly impacts how veterans receive pain management and surgical care.
Who It Would Affect
Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Veterans
Veterans receiving anesthesia services will be treated under updated practice standards and provider certification requirements.
Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs)
CRNAs will be recognized as licensed independent practitioners and must meet specific certification and direct-care hour requirements to maintain employment.
Physician Anesthesiologists
Physician anesthesiologists must meet specific certification and direct-care hour requirements to maintain employment.
Key Facts
- The VA must update Directive 1123 to recognize CRNAs as licensed independent practitioners, aligning with Defense Health Agency standards.
- Physician anesthesiologists must be certified by the American Board of Anesthesiology or a similar body.
- CRNAs must be certified by the Council on Certification of Nurse Anesthetists, the Council on Recertification of Nurse Anesthetists, or a similar body.
- All anesthesia professionals must complete at least 25 hours of direct patient anesthesia care, excluding time spent supervising others.
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- The VA is required to suspend any anesthesia professional who fails to meet the new certification or direct-care requirements.
- The GAO must submit an annual public report to Congress starting one year after enactment.
- The GAO report must compare outcomes for three models: anesthesiologist-led, supervised CRNA, and independent CRNA.
- The GAO report must include a cost-effectiveness analysis, including costs to medical facilities, taxpayers, and veterans' households.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does this change the role of nurse anesthetists at the VA?
Will the public be able to see how these changes affect care?
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News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently in committee. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Floor Vote.
Procedural history
5 actions- Jun 11, 2025HouseSubcommittee Hearings Held
- Jun 11, 2025HouseCommitteeReferred to the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity.
- Apr 4, 2025HouseCommitteeReferred to the Subcommittee on Health.
- Mar 18, 2025HouseCommitteeReferred to the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
- Mar 18, 2025HouseIntroducedIntroduced in House
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
WHEAT SHROYER GOVERNMENT RELATIONS LLC
on behalf of AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF NURSE ANESTHETISTS
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Show 12 more sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Alignment with Defense Health Agency
The bill explicitly forces the VA to adopt standards from the Defense Health Agency, suggesting a move toward inter-agency standardization of anesthesia care.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.congress.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance75How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy40Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment10Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz25Current news / social attention level
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