AIR CARE for Vets Act of 2026 — Full text

Section 1. Short title

This Act may be cited as the Advanced Imaging for Respiratory Care, Assessment, and Research Excellence for Veterans Act of 2026 or the AIR CARE for Vets Act of 2026.

(a) Establishment

The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall establish a pilot program to use an eligible software product to identify respiratory disorders and lung disease in veterans receiving medical services at facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

(b) Leases of lung imaging software products

The Secretary shall carry out subsection (a) by seeking to enter into an agreement with an eligible entity to lease an eligible software product to the Secretary.

(c) Expiration of authority

The authority of the Secretary to enter into an agreement under subsection (b) shall expire on the date that is five years after the date of the enactment of this Act.

(d) Report

Not later than 2 years after the expiration of authority under subsection (c), the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report evaluating the effectiveness of the pilot program.

(e) Authorization of appropriations

There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2027 through 2031.

(f) Definitions

In this section:

(1) The term eligible entity means a developer of an eligible software product.

(2) The term eligible software product means a four-dimensional functional lung imaging software product that has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration to evaluate lung function.

(3) The terms facilities of the Department and medical services have the meanings given such terms in section 1701 of title 38, United States Code.