VA expands telehealth and pharmacy access to Pacific island veterans
S. 3436 — Caring for Veterans and Strengthening National Security Act · Filed by Jerry Moran (R-KS) · 9 cosponsors · Introduced Dec 11, 2025 · Passed chamber
Your members of Congress
Enter a ZIP to see where your representative and both senators stood on this bill.
Looked up on this device — your ZIP is never stored on our servers.
What it does
This bill requires the VA to provide telehealth, mail-order pharmacy, and beneficiary travel benefits to veterans in the Freely Associated States (Palau, Marshall Islands, Micronesia) within one year, and extends a pension-payment limit deadline by two months. The VA must report quarterly to Congress on implementation and costs.
Why we flagged it
The bill's operative mechanism is a straightforward mandate to extend existing VA benefits (telehealth, pharmacy, travel) to a previously underserved veteran population. The title accurately describes the function.
What the text implies
- The one-year implementation deadline may create budgetary pressure on the VA if appropriations are not simultaneously increased; the quarterly reporting requirement suggests Congress expects cost scrutiny.
- Extension of the pension-payment limit (§5503(d)(7)) from January 31, 2033 to March 31, 2033 is a technical two-month extension with no stated policy rationale in the bill text; its purpose and scope depend on the underlying statute.
- Telehealth and mail-order pharmacy benefits to FAS veterans may require new infrastructure or agreements with providers in those jurisdictions; feasibility and actual access depend on VA capacity and partner availability.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Veterans in the Freely Associated States gain access to telehealth, pharmacy, and travel benefits they previously lacked or could only receive at VA discretion. The mandatory language ('shall') and one-year implementation deadline create enforceable entitlements. The quarterly reporting requirement adds transparency and accountability.
Who stands to gain
- Veterans in the Freely Associated States (primary beneficiaries of expanded benefits)
Named in the bill
Department of Veterans Affairs, Freely Associated States (Palau, Marshall Islands, Micronesia), Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, Senate Committee on Appropriations, House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, House Committee on Appropriations, 38 USC §1724(f)(1), 38 USC §111(h)(1), 38 USC §5503(d)(7)
Where it stands
9 cosponsors: 5 Democrats, 4 Republicans.
- Dec 11, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Dec 11, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs”
- Dec 17, 2025 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs discharged by Unanimous Consent”
- Dec 17, 2025 — Passed the Senate · Congress.gov: “Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent. (consideration: CR S8874; text: CR S8874)”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
1 lobbying clients named this bill on 1 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Dec 2025 to Dec 2025. Those filings disclosed $1,560,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 23 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 0% of bills with at least one filing.
Jerry Moran, the sponsor, reported $396,550 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- National Multifamily Housing Council Inc — $1,560,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jan 16, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (1,763 characters) on Jun 8, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Dec 2025 to Dec 2025. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jan 16, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
“VA expands telehealth and pharmacy access to Pacific island veterans” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/s3436 Report an error
The week in bills
One email, Sunday: what Congress passed, what it changed, and who paid.
One link arrives to confirm the address. It is used for this email and nothing else, and every issue carries an unsubscribe link.