The VA CAREERS Act is designed to help the Department of Veterans Affairs recruit, train, and keep healthcare workers. Here's what it does in practical terms:

The bill covers the costs of professional licensing exams for healthcare workers who received scholarships from the VA, including doctors, nurses, dentists, optometrists, and other medical professionals. This removes a financial barrier that might otherwise prevent qualified professionals from getting licensed and working at the VA.

The law expands training programs for VA staff, particularly in rural areas and for caring for elderly veterans with conditions like Alzheimer's and dementia. It requires the VA to set up geriatric care teams at every VA medical center and ensures rural VA facilities have access to the same educational opportunities as urban ones. The VA must also study staffing challenges at nursing homes and report back to Congress on what works best for hiring and keeping nurses.

On the pay side, the bill gives the VA more flexibility to offer competitive salaries to doctors, dentists, optometrists, and other specialists to attract and retain talented healthcare workers. It also increases bonuses the VA can offer to recruit new staff, from $40,000 to $100,000. Additionally, the law addresses some technical issues around how VA medical center directors are temporarily reassigned, requiring the VA to notify Congress and appoint acting directors within specific timeframes.

Finally, the bill makes several changes to help VA employees, including allowing certain workers to consolidate unused vacation time and giving VA police officers better retirement benefits. The VA must also provide annual reports to Congress on how well these new programs are working and whether they're successfully filling job openings.

VA Clinician Appreciation, Recruitment, Education, Expansion, and Retention Support (CAREERS) Act of 2023

Tester, Jon

VA Clinician Appreciation, Recruitment, Education, Expansion, and Retention Support (CAREERS) Act of 2023 This bill addresses Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) personnel matters and the training, recruitment, and retention of VA health care employees. Among other requirements, the VA must <ul> <li>expand various staff training efforts and programs;</li> <li>comply with certain notification and staffing requirements when a VA medical center director is on detail;</li> <li>prescribe a system of pay for individuals appointed as directors of medical centers and directors of Veterans Integrated Service Networks; and</li> <li>establish a consolidated annual leave account for certain VA employees with restored leave during 2020, 2021, and 2022.</li> </ul> The bill also <ul> <li>authorizes the VA to waive pay limitations for employees of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) who are performing mission critical work;</li> <li>increases the maximum amount of incentive pay for pharmacist executives;</li> <li>modifies the special pay authority for nurse executives and the administration of pay for VA physicians, podiatrists, optometrists, and dentists;</li> <li>authorizes a waiver of certain licensure requirements for psychologists and mental health counselors in certain circumstances;</li> <li>requires the Inspector General of the VA to study and report on the use of direct hire authority, the contributions made by the use of such authority, and any vulnerabilities or inconsistencies with respect to the use of such authority;</li> <li>includes VA police officers as law enforcement officers for purposes of the federal retirement system; and</li> <li>requires the Government Accountability Office to report on human resources modernization conducted by the VHA. </li> </ul>