MMU Rural Expansion Act of 2026

This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to centralize oversight of its Mobile Medical Unit (MMU) Program, assess its existing fleet, and evaluate ways to expand mobile health services to veterans in rural and underserved areas.

* **Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)**, specifically the **Veterans Health Administration (VHA)**, which must assign a dedicated program lead, conduct assessments, and report to Congress. * **Veterans**, particularly those living in rural or underserved areas who receive or could receive healthcare through mobile medical units. * **Local Veterans Service Organizations (VSOs)**, which the VA may partner with to identify suitable sites for mobile unit deployments.

* **Centralized Oversight**: The Secretary of Veterans Affairs must assign the head of an existing VA office to oversee the MMU Program. This official will be responsible for coordinating deployments with VA medical centers, collecting data, locating funding, and integrating mobile units into broader healthcare strategies. * **Nationwide Inventory**: The VA must complete a comprehensive assessment of all existing mobile units. This includes counting units, checking their age, condition, and maintenance needs, reviewing physical deployment sites and wheelchair accessibility, tracking usage frequencies and services offered, and identifying care barriers that mobile units could help address. * **Feasibility Study on Mandatory Deployments**: Within **180 days of enactment**, the VA must complete a study on whether it is practical to require certain VA medical centers to deploy mobile units to rural or underserved areas at least once a year. The VA must submit these findings to congressional committees within **90 days** of completing the study. * **Comprehensive Congressional Report**: Within **180 days of enactment**, the VA must submit a report to the Senate and House Committees on Veterans' Affairs detailing: * Care gaps and opportunities to expand mobile care for rural veterans. * VA medical centers serving areas with large rural veteran populations. * Operational barriers such as staffing, funding, IT, training, and site accessibility. * Strategies to work with local VSOs to find deployment sites. * Plans to resolve identified barriers and the results of the nationwide fleet inventory. * An assessment and response detailing actions taken regarding a December 2023 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on mobile medical units. * Recommendations for future administrative or legislative changes.

The provided summary does not authorize specific new dollar amounts or grant programs. However, it requires the newly designated program head to identify existing funding sources for deploying units and requires the VA's feasibility study to include cost estimates for expanding deployments.

* The bill requires the VA to study the feasibility of mandatory annual mobile unit deployments, but it does not directly order immediate mandatory deployments. * The summary does not list specific legal exceptions, penalties, or broad changes to veteran eligibility rules.

This legislation requires the VA to put a single official in charge of its mobile medical units, take a complete stock of its current fleet, and analyze whether forcing annual mobile healthcare visits to rural veterans is workable, reporting all findings to Congress within six months.