I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5245 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for a bar on the recovery 

of certain payments or overpayments made by the Department of Veterans Affairs by reason of delays in processing of certain information, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 21, 2019 

Mr. PAPPAS (for himself and Mr. ROSE of New York) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for a 

bar on the recovery of certain payments or overpayments 

made by the Department of Veterans Affairs by reason 

of delays in processing of certain information, and for 

other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stopping Harm and 

5 Implementing Enhanced Lead-time for Debts for Veterans 

6 Act’’ or the ‘‘SHIELD for Veterans Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. BAR TO RECOVERY OF CERTAIN PAYMENTS OR 

2 OVERPAYMENTS MADE BY DEPARTMENT OF 

3 VETERANS AFFAIRS BY REASON OF DELAYS 

4 IN PROCESSING OF CERTAIN INFORMATION. 

5 (a) BAR TO RECOVERY.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 53 of title 38, 

7 United States Code, is amended by inserting after 

8 section 5302A the following new section: 

9 ‘‘§ 5302B. Bar to recovery of certain payments or 

10 overpayments 

11 ‘‘(a) LIMITATION.—The Secretary may not collect all 

12 or any part of an amount owed to the United States by 

13 any individual under any program under the laws adminis14 tered by the Secretary if the amount is owed for any pay15 ment or overpayment that was caused by the amount of 

16 time taken by the Department, or by any employee of the 

17 Department, to process information provided by or on be18 half of the individual. 

19 ‘‘(b) NOTICE TO BENEFICIARY.—If the Secretary de20 termines that the Secretary has made an overpayment to 

21 an individual, the Secretary shall provide notice to the in22 dividual of the overpayment and of any action the Sec23 retary plans to take to collect repayment for the overpay24 ment or to reduce any benefit of the individual by reason 

25 of the overpayment by not later than 90 days before tak26 ing such action. Such notice shall include an explanation 


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1 of the right of the individual to dispute the overpayment 

2 or to request a waiver of indebtedness.’’. 

3 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec4 tions at the beginning of such chapter is amended 

5 by inserting after the item relating to section 5302A 

6 the following new item: 

‘‘5302B. Bar to recovery of certain payments or overpayments.’’. 

7 (b) PLAN FOR IMPROVED NOTIFICATION AND COM8 MUNICATION OF DEBTS.—Not later than May 1, 2020, 

9 and 12 months thereafter, the Secretary of Veterans Af10 fairs shall submit to Congress a report on the improve11 ment of the notification of and communication with indi12 viduals who receive overpayments made by the Secretary. 

13 Such report shall include each of the following: 

14 (1) The plan of the Secretary to carry out each 

15 of the following: 

16 (A) The development and implementation, 

17 by not later than January 31, 2020, of a mech18 anism by which individuals enrolled in the pa19 tient enrollment system under section 1705 of 

20 title 38, United States Code, may view their 

21 monthly patient medical statements electroni22 cally. 

23 (B) The development and implementation, 

24 by not later than April 30, 2020, of a mecha25 nism by which individuals eligible for benefits 


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1 under the laws administered by the Secretary 

2 may receive electronic correspondence relating 

3 to debt and overpayment information. 

4 (C) The development and implementation, 

5 by not later than October 1, 2022, of a mecha6 nism by which individuals eligible for benefits 

7 under the laws administered by the Secretary 

8 may access information related to Department 

9 of Veterans Affairs debt electronically. 

10 (D) The improvement and clarification, by 

11 not later than March 31, 2020, and in consulta12 tion with veterans service organizations and 

13 other relevant non-governmental organizations, 

14 of Department communications relating to over15 payments and debt collection, including letters 

16 and electronic correspondence. 

17 (E) The development and implementation, 

18 by not later than October 1, 2022, of a mecha19 nism by which veterans may update their de20 pendency information electronically. 

21 (2) A description of the current efforts and 

22 plans for improving the accuracy of payments to in23 dividuals entitled to benefits under the laws adminis24 tered by the Secretary, including specific data 

25 matching agreements. 


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1 (3) A description of steps to be taken to im2 prove the identification of underpayments to such in3 dividuals and to improve Department procedures 

4 and policies to ensure that such individuals who are 

5 underpaid receive adequate compensation payments. 

6 (4) A list of actions completed, implementation 

7 steps, and timetables for each requirement described 

8 in paragraphs (1) through (3). 

9 (5) A description of any new legislative author10 ity required to complete any such requirement. 

11 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AF12 FAIRS INTEREST AND ADMINISTRATIVE COST 

13 CHARGES FOR DEBTS RELATING TO CERTAIN 

14 BENEFITS PROGRAMS. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 5315(a)(1) of title 38, 

16 United States Code, is amended— 

17 (1) by striking ‘‘other than a loan’’ and all that 

18 follows through the semicolon and inserting ‘‘other 

19 than—’’; and 

20 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub21 paragraphs: 

22 ‘‘(A) a loan, loan-guaranty, or loan-insur23 ance program; 

24 ‘‘(B) a disability compensation program; 

25 ‘‘(C) a pension program; or 


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1 ‘‘(D) an educational assistance program.’’. 

2 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

3 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to an indebtedness 

4 that occurs on or after the date of the enactment of this 

5 Act. 

Æ 


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