Report

(a) In general Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives a report— (1) identifying gaps and opportunities to expand the appropriate use by the Department of Veterans Affairs of mobile medical units in rural or underserved areas, including by identifying the gaps between the capabilities of such units and the needs of veterans in rural areas; (2) identifying areas that medical centers of the Department serve with high rural veteran populations or that are near high rural veteran populations; (3) identifying staffing barriers, clinical support and resources, funding barriers, accessibility barriers, information technology, and training barriers to improving the appropriate use of mobile medical units; (4) identifying ways the Department can engage with local veterans service organizations to further identify suitable and accessible locations for mobile medical unit deployments; (5) identifying how the head of the office designated under section 2(a) can focus on rectifying the barriers identified under paragraph (3); (6) including the findings of the Secretary from the assessment conducted under section 3; (7) assessing the findings of the Secretary in response to the report of the Comptroller General of the United States published on December 14, 2023, and titled VA Health Care: Actions Needed to Improve Information Reported on Mobile Medical Units; (8) describing any actions taken by the Secretary in response to the Comptroller General report specified under paragraph (7); and (9) recommending any legislative or administrative action necessary to improve the use of mobile medical units by the Department. (b) Veterans service organization defined In this section, the term veterans service organization means an organization recognized by the Secretary for the representation of veterans under section 5902 of title 38, United States Code.