[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5193 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5193

  To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct outreach to 
   veterans regarding the effect of delayed payments by the Veterans 
 Integrated Service Networks and to direct the Secretary to submit to 
       Congress an annual report regarding such delayed payments.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 24, 2014

 Mr. Boustany (for himself, Mr. Cassidy, Mr. McAllister, Mr. Scalise, 
and Mr. Richmond) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
                   the Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct outreach to 
   veterans regarding the effect of delayed payments by the Veterans 
 Integrated Service Networks and to direct the Secretary to submit to 
       Congress an annual report regarding such delayed payments.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Veterans' Credit Protection Act''.

SEC. 2. OUTREACH TO VETERANS REGARDING EFFECT OF DELAYED PAYMENTS BY 
              VETERANS INTEGRATED SERVICE NETWORKS.

    (a) Outreach.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall conduct 
outreach, including through national and local veterans service 
organizations, to inform veterans of how to resolve credit issues 
caused by a delayed payment. The Secretary shall establish a toll-free 
telephone number for veterans to report such credit issues to the 
Veterans Integrated Service Networks.
    (b) Annual Report.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall 
        annually submit to Congress a report on the effectiveness of 
        each Veterans Integrated Service Network in providing timely 
        payment of a proper invoice by the required payment date during 
        both the five-year period preceding the date of the report and 
        the one-year period preceding such date.
            (2) Matters included.--The reports under paragraph (1) 
        shall include, for each period covered by the report, the 
        following:
                    (A) The number of veterans who contacted the 
                Secretary regarding a delayed payment that negatively 
                affected, or will potentially negatively affect, the 
                credit of the veteran.
                    (B) The total amount of interest penalties paid by 
                the Secretary of Veterans Affairs under section 3902 of 
                title 31, United States Code, by reason of a delayed 
                payment.
                    (C) The number of proper invoices submitted, listed 
                in a table for each quarter and fiscal year of each 
                such period that includes--
                            (i) the total amount owed by the Secretary 
                        under the proper invoices;
                            (ii) the payment status of each proper 
                        invoice, as of the date of the report; and
                            (iii) the period that elapsed until each 
                        proper invoice was paid, including an 
                        explanation of any delayed payment.
                    (D) Any comments regarding delayed payments made by 
                medical providers.
                    (E) An identification of the Veterans Integrated 
                Service Network with the least number of delayed 
                payments and the Veterans Integrated Service Network 
                with the most number of delayed payments.
                    (F) A description of the best practices that a 
                Veterans Integrated Service Network can carry out to 
                provide timely payment of a proper invoice, including a 
                plan for underperforming Veterans Integrated Service 
                Networks to improve such timely payments.
    (c) Comptroller General Study.--
            (1) In general.--The Comptroller General of the United 
        States shall conduct a study that compares the effectiveness of 
        each Veterans Integrated Service Network in providing timely 
        payment of a proper invoice by the required payment date.
            (2) Submittal.--The Comptroller General shall submit to 
        Congress a report on the study conducted under paragraph (1), 
        including the total amount of interest penalties paid by the 
        Secretary of Veterans Affairs under section 3902 of title 31, 
        United States Code, by reason of a delayed payment.
    (d) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) The term ``delayed payment'' means a proper invoice 
        that is not paid by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs until 
        after the required payment date.
            (2) The term ``proper invoice'' has the meaning given that 
        term in section 3901(a) of title 31.
            (3) The term ``required payment date'' means the date that 
        payment is due for a contract pursuant to section 3903(a) of 
        title 31.
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