Veterans Care and Cost Coordination Act of 2026

This legislation, titled the "Veterans Care and Cost Coordination Act of 2026," mandates that the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) seek to enter into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) within one year of enactment. The primary goal of this MOU is to establish reciprocal access to health care data between the Veterans Health Administration and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). This data exchange will focus on veterans who are concurrently enrolled in the VA patient enrollment system and either the Medicare program or a Medicare Advantage plan, aiming to coordinate costs, care, and management of services. Under the proposed agreement, the VA will transmit information on enrolled veterans receiving care, including billing and diagnostic codes, to HHS. In turn, HHS will identify concurrently enrolled veterans and share relevant data back with the VA. The VA will then utilize this shared information for utilization management within the Veterans Community Care Program, specifically to avoid duplicative health care , prevent erroneous or duplicative payments , and inform veterans about beneficial follow-up services. Furthermore, the bill amends the Social Security Act to require HHS to use this VA data when calculating benchmark payments for Medicare Advantage plans, and the VA must submit biennial reports to Congress on the MOU's effectiveness.