[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1862 Introduced in House (IH)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1862

  To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct outreach to 
    veterans regarding the effect of delayed payments of claims for 
emergency medical care furnished by non-Department of Veterans Affairs 
   medical providers by the Chief Business Office and to direct the 
Secretary to submit to Congress an annual report regarding such delayed 
                               payments.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 16, 2015

  Mr. Boustany (for himself and Mr. Abraham) 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 of claims for 
emergency medical care furnished by non-Department of Veterans Affairs 
   medical providers by the Chief Business Office 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 CERTAIN DELAYED 
              PAYMENTS BY DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS CHIEF BUSINESS 
              OFFICE.

    (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 delayed payment of a claim for emergency hospital care, 
medical services, or other emergency health care furnished through a 
non-Department of Veterans Affairs provider. The Secretary shall 
establish a toll-free telephone number for veterans to report such 
credit issues to the Chief Business Office of the Department of 
Veterans Affairs.
    (b) Annual Report.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall 
        annually submit to Congress a report on the effectiveness of 
        the Chief Business Office in providing timely payment of proper 
        invoices for emergency hospital care, medical services, or 
        other emergency health care furnished through non-Department of 
        Veterans Affairs providers 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. For any part of the 
        period covered by a report under this subsection that occurred 
        before October 1, 2014, the report shall evaluate the provision 
        of such payments by the Veterans Integrated Service Networks.
            (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) A description of the best practices that the 
                Chief Business Office can carry out to provide timely 
                payment of a proper invoice, including a plan to 
                improve such timely payments.
    (c) Quarterly Reports on Pending Claims.--The Chief Business Office 
of the Department of Veterans Affairs shall submit to Congress 
quarterly reports on the number of pending claims for reimbursement for 
emergency hospital care, medical services, and other emergency health 
care furnished through non-Department of Veterans Affairs providers. 
Each such report shall include each of the following:
            (1) The total number of such pending claims for each 
        hospital system of the Department, as of the last day of the 
        quarter covered by the report.
            (2) The total number of veterans who submitted such a 
        pending claim in each State, as of such day.
            (3) The aggregate amount of all such pending claims in each 
        State, as of such day.
            (4) As of such day--
                    (A) the number of such pending claims that have 
                been pending for 30 days or longer;
                    (B) the number of such pending claims that have 
                been pending for 90 days or longer; and
                    (C) the number of such pending claims that have 
                been pending for 365 days or longer.
            (5) For each hospital system, for the quarter covered by 
        the report--
                    (A) the number of claims for reimbursement for 
                emergency hospital care, medical services, and other 
                emergency health care furnished through non-Department 
                of Veterans Affairs providers approved during such 
                quarter;
                    (B) the number of such claims denied during such 
                quarter; and
                    (C) the number of such claims denied listed by each 
                denial reason group.
    (d) Comptroller General Study.--
            (1) In general.--The Comptroller General of the United 
        States shall conduct a study that evaluates the effectiveness 
        of the Chief Business Office in providing timely payment of a 
        proper invoice for emergency hospital care, medical services, 
        or other emergency health care furnished through non-Department 
        of Veterans Affairs providers 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.
    (e) 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, United States Code.
            (3) The term ``required payment date'' means the date that 
        payment is due for a contract pursuant to section 3903(a) of 
        title 31, United States Code.
                                 <all>