[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 89 (Tuesday, May 23, 2017)]
[House]
[Pages H4475-H4476]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
IMPROVING THE TREATMENT OF MEDICAL EVIDENCE PROVIDED BY NON-DEPARTMENT
OF VETERANS AFFAIRS MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS
Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and
pass the bill (H.R. 1725) to amend title 38, United States Code, to
improve the treatment of medical evidence provided by non-Department of
Veterans Affairs medical professionals in support of claims for
disability compensation under the laws administered by the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 1725
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. REPORT ON PROGRESS OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS
AFFAIRS ACCEPTABLE CLINICAL EVIDENCE
INITIATIVE.
(a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the
Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and the
Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the House of
Representatives a report on the progress of the Acceptable
Clinical Evidence initiative of the Department of Veterans
Affairs in reducing the necessity for in-person disability
examinations and other efforts to comply with the provisions
of section 5125 of title 38, United States Code.
(b) Contents of Report.--The report required by subsection
(a) shall include the following:
(1) The number of claims eligible for the Acceptable
Clinical Evidence initiative during the period beginning on
the date of the commencement of the initiative and ending on
the date of the submittal of the report, disaggregated by
fiscal year.
(2) The total number of claims eligible for the Acceptable
Clinical Evidence initiative that required a medical examiner
of the Department to supplement the evidence with information
obtained during a telephone interview with a claimant.
(3) Information on any other initiatives or efforts of the
Department to further encourage the use of private medical
evidence and reliance upon reports of a medical examination
administered by a private physician if the report is
sufficiently complete to be adequate for the purposes of
adjudicating a claim.
(4) The anticipated impact on the timeline and accuracy of
a decision on a claim for benefits under chapter 11 or 15 of
title 38, United States Code, if the Secretary were
prohibited from requesting a medical examination in the case
of a claim in support of which a claimant submits medical
evidence and a medical opinion provided by a private
physician that is competent, credible, probative, and
otherwise adequate for the purpose of making a decision on
that claim.
(5) Recommendations on how the Department can measure,
track, and prevent the ordering of unnecessary medical
examinations when the provision by a claimant of a medical
examination administered by a private physician in support of
a claim for benefits under chapter 11 or 15 of title 38,
United States Code, is adequate for the purpose of making a
decision on that claim.
SEC. 2. ANNUAL REPORT ON SUBMITTAL OF PRIVATE MEDICAL
EVIDENCE IN SUPPORT OF CLAIMS FOR DEPARTMENT OF
VETERANS AFFAIRS BENEFITS.
Not later than March 1 of fiscal years 2018 through 2024,
the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to Congress a
report that includes, for the calendar year preceding the
year in which the report is submitted, the following for each
regional office of the Department of Veterans Affairs:
(1) The number of times a veteran who submitted private
medical evidence in support of a claim for compensation or
pension under the laws administered by the Secretary was
scheduled for an examination performed by Department
personnel because the private medical evidence submitted was
determined to be unacceptable.
(2) The most common reasons why private medical evidence
submitted in support of claims for benefits under the laws
administered by the Secretary was determined to be
unacceptable.
(3) The types of disabilities for which claims for benefits
under the laws administered by the Secretary were mostly
commonly denied when private medical evidence was submitted.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Tennessee (Mr. Roe) and the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Walz) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Tennessee.
General Leave
Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their
remarks and to insert extraneous material in the Record on H.R. 1725,
as amended.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Tennessee?
There was no objection.
Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
H.R. 1725, as amended, was introduced by my good friend Mr. Walz, the
ranking member of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
This bill addresses a very serious issue. When a veteran files a
claim for disability benefits, VA may need a medical opinion regarding
whether the injury or illness is service connected and, if it is, the
extent of the veteran's disability. The problem is that the VA often
schedules a medical disability examination when one might not be
needed.
Many times, a veteran will submit medical evidence from a private
doctor with enough information for VA to decide the claim, but we hear
about cases where VA still requires a VA examination. Ordering
unnecessary disability examinations is a waste of time and resources.
It takes doctors away from taking care of their patients and conducting
other disability examinations.
H.R. 1725, as amended, would require VA to provide reports to
Congress about its use of private medical evidence. This information
will be used to help us find ways to make the disability examination
more efficient for veterans.
I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 1725, as amended.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. WALZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this piece of legislation.
I want to thank the chairman personally for bringing this forward and
for being very eloquent in his words on what this does. It is
appropriate that it is part of this block of legislation dealing with
appeals reform also.
I thank the folks who have worked on this for years: Mr. Denham, Mr.
Langevin, Ms. McSally, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Costello, Ms. Kuster, Mr.
Higgins of New York, and Ms. Shea-Porter.
As originally introduced, this bill sought to change a current
requirement stipulating that initial physical examinations of those
seeking to file disability claims must be conducted by the VA. It was
to allow veterans to see a local doctor.
Again, as the chairman so clearly pointed out, it was to relieve some
of the pressure on the VA, while recognizing we have quality, ethically
trustworthy physicians in the private sector who can deliver some of
these services. The idea was that requiring the VA to accept private
medical evidence from a qualified physician would ease the benefit
process in rural communities, expedite diagnosis of disabilities, and
reduce the wait times and the backlogs.
This is a problem that we have been working on for many years. We
introduced similar language in 2013, 2014, and 2015.
I would like to thank all my fellow members, both on and off the
committee, and those who are no longer in Congress for working toward
this. I am especially thankful to Chairman Bost and Ms. Esty for having
worked with me to tighten the scope of this bill to address the cost
that the Congressional Budget Office scored it to.
As it is now, the bill requires an annual report on how veterans
obtain private medical evidence in support of their claim, how often it
is rejected, and why. It is my hope that this data will help build our
case for mandating that the VA accept all credible private medical
evidence. We cannot let the perfect be the enemy of the good and need
to get started gathering this data as soon as possible.
As we also work to improve the appeals process today, making it more
convenient for veterans to get and submit medical evidence, this
component will be important. By continuing our work on this issue,
veterans will be able to complete their claims faster; start receiving
the benefits that they have earned faster; and make sure that the
stress you heard about with 20 years of waiting, much of that time
[[Page H4476]]
seeing private physicians and gathering evidence to support the very
claim that is being denied, this piece of legislation should make sense
with that.
Again, Mr. Speaker, I thank everyone involved with this. I urge my
colleagues to support this piece of legislation, H.R. 1725.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I wholeheartedly endorse this
bill.
Mr. Walz, Sergeant Major Walz, speaks with great passion about it. He
has the Mayo Clinic in his district. I can't imagine an evaluation at
the Mayo Clinic by physicians there wouldn't be adequate for the VA.
I wholeheartedly support this bill, H.R. 1725, as amended. I urge all
Members to also support it.
I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Roe) that the House suspend the rules and
pass the bill, H.R. 1725, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
The title of the bill was amended so as to read: ``A bill to direct
the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit certain reports relating to
medical evidence submitted in support of claims for benefits under the
laws administered by the Secretary.''.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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