[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2214 Introduced in House (IH)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2214

To improve the authority of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to enter 
 into contracts with private physicians to conduct medical disability 
                             examinations.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 1, 2015

 Mr. Abraham (for himself, Mr. Boustany, and Mrs. Walorski) introduced 
 the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans' 
                                Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To improve the authority of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to enter 
 into contracts with private physicians to conduct medical disability 
                             examinations.

    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 ``Disabled Veterans' Access to Medical 
Exams Improvement Act''.

SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENTS TO AUTHORITY FOR PERFORMANCE OF MEDICAL 
              DISABILITIES EXAMINATIONS BY CONTRACT PHYSICIANS.

    (a) Extension of Temporary Authority.--Subsection (c) of section 
704 of the Veterans Benefits Act of 2003 (38 U.S.C. 5101 note) is 
amended by striking ``December 31, 2015'' and inserting ``December 31, 
2017''.
    (b) Licensure of Contract Physicians.--
            (1) Temporary authority.--Such section 704 is further 
        amended--
                    (A) by redesignating subsection (d) as subsection 
                (e); and
                    (B) by inserting after subsection (c) the following 
                new subsection (d):
    ``(d) Licensure of Contract Physicians.--
            ``(1) In general.--Notwithstanding any law regarding the 
        licensure of physicians, a physician described in paragraph (2) 
        may conduct an examination pursuant to a contract entered into 
        under subsection (b) at any location in any State, the District 
        of Columbia, or a Commonwealth, territory, or possession of the 
        United States, so long as the examination is within the scope 
        of the authorized duties under such contract and the physician 
        is not barred from conducting such an examination in the 
        location in which it occurs.
            ``(2) Physician described.--A physician described in this 
        paragraph is a physician who--
                    ``(A) has a current license to practice the health 
                care profession of the physician; and
                    ``(B) is performing authorized duties for the 
                Department of Veterans Affairs pursuant to a contract 
                entered into under subsection (b).''.
            (2) Pilot program.--Section 504 of the Veterans' Benefits 
        Improvement Act of 1996 (38 U.S.C. 5101 note) is amended--
                    (A) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as 
                subsections (d) and (e), respectively; and
                    (B) by inserting after subsection (b) the following 
                new subsection (c):
    ``(c) Licensure of Contract Physicians.--
            ``(1) In general.--Notwithstanding any law regarding the 
        licensure of physicians, a physician described in paragraph (2) 
        may conduct an examination pursuant to a contract entered into 
        under subsection (a) at any location in any State, the District 
        of Columbia, or a Commonwealth, territory, or possession of the 
        United States, so long as the examination is within the scope 
        of the authorized duties under such contract and the physician 
        is not barred from conducting such an examination in the 
        location in which it occurs.
            ``(2) Physician described.--A physician described in this 
        paragraph is a physician who--
                    ``(A) has a current license to practice the health 
                care profession of the physician; and
                    ``(B) is performing authorized duties for the 
                Department of Veterans Affairs pursuant to a contract 
                entered into under subsection (a).''.
    (c) Expansion of Pilot Program.--Subsection (b) of such section 504 
is amended to read as follows:
    ``(b) Locations.--
            ``(1) Number.--The Secretary may carry out the pilot 
        program under this section through not more than 15 regional 
        offices of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
            ``(2) Selection.--The Secretary shall select the regional 
        offices under paragraph (1) by analyzing appropriate data to 
        determine the regional offices that require support. Such 
        appropriate data shall include--
                    ``(A) the number of backlogged claims;
                    ``(B) the total pending case workload;
                    ``(C) the length of time cases have been pending;
                    ``(D) the accuracy of completed cases; and
                    ``(E) the overall timeliness of completed cases.
            ``(3) Annual analysis.--The Secretary shall carry out the 
        data analysis of the regional offices under paragraph (2) 
        during each year in which the program under this section is 
        carried out to determine the regional offices selected under 
        paragraph (1) for such year.''.
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