II 

Calendar No. 555 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5245 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 24, 2020 

Received; read twice and placed on the calendar 

AN ACT 

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. PROHIBITION OF DEBT ARISING FROM OVERPAY2 MENT DUE TO DELAY IN PROCESSING BY THE 

3 DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 

4 (a) BAR TO RECOVERY.— 

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

6 United States Code, is amended by inserting after 

7 section 5302A the following new section: 

8 ‘‘§ 5302B. Prohibition of debt arising from overpay9 ment due to delay in processing 

10 ‘‘(a) LIMITATION.—No individual may incur a debt 

11 to the United States that— 

12 ‘‘(1) arises from any program or benefit admin13 istered by the Under Secretary for Benefits; and 

14 ‘‘(2) is attributable to the failure of an em15 ployee or official of the Department to process infor16 mation provided by or on behalf of that individual 

17 within applicable timeliness standards established by 

18 the Secretary. 

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. Such notice shall include an 

23 explanation of the right of the individual to dispute the 

24 overpayment or to request a waiver of indebtedness. 

25 ‘‘(c) DELAY ON COLLECTION.—The Secretary may 

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1 ing an overpayment described in a notice under subsection 

2 (b) until the date that is 90 days after the date the Sec3 retary issues such notice.’’. 

4 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec5 tions at the beginning of such chapter is amended 

6 by inserting after the item relating to section 5302A 

7 the following new item: 

‘‘5302B. Prohibition of debt arising from overpayment due to delay in processing.’’. 

8 (3) DEADLINE.—The Secretary of Veterans Af9 fairs shall prescribe regulations to establish stand10 ards under section 5302B(a)(2) of such title, as 

11 added by subsection (a), not later than 180 days 

12 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

13 (b) PLAN FOR IMPROVED NOTIFICATION AND COM14 MUNICATION OF DEBTS.—Not later than 180 days after 

15 the date of the enactment of this Act, and one year there16 after, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to 

17 Congress a report on the improvement of the notification 

18 of and communication with individuals who receive over19 payments made by the Secretary. Such report shall include 

20 each of the following: 

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

22 of the following: 

23 (A) The development and implementation 

24 of a mechanism by which individuals enrolled in 


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1 the patient enrollment system under section 

2 1705 of title 38, United States Code, may view 

3 their monthly patient medical statements elec4 tronically. 

5 (B) The development and implementation 

6 of a mechanism by which individuals eligible for 

7 benefits under the laws administered by the 

8 Secretary may receive electronic correspondence 

9 relating to debt and overpayment information. 

10 (C) The development and implementation, 

11 by not later than October 1, 2022, of a mecha12 nism by which individuals eligible for benefits 

13 under the laws administered by the Secretary 

14 may access information related to Department 

15 of Veterans Affairs debt electronically. 

16 (D) The improvement and clarification of 

17 Department communications relating to over18 payments and debt collection, including letters 

19 and electronic correspondence. The Secretary 

20 shall develop such improvements and clarifica21 tions in consultation with veterans service orga22 nizations and other relevant non-governmental 

23 organizations. 

24 (E) The development and implementation, 

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1 nism by which veterans may update their de2 pendency information electronically. 

3 (2) A description of the current efforts and 

4 plans for improving the accuracy of payments to in5 dividuals entitled to benefits under the laws adminis6 tered by the Secretary, including specific data 

7 matching agreements. 

8 (3) A description of steps to be taken to im9 prove the identification of underpayments to such in10 dividuals and to improve Department procedures 

11 and policies to ensure that such individuals who are 

12 underpaid receive adequate compensation payments. 

13 (4) A list of actions completed, implementation 

14 steps, and timetables for each requirement described 

15 in paragraphs (1) through (3). 

16 (5) A description of any new legislative author17 ity required to complete any such requirement. 

18 SEC. 3. THRESHOLD FOR REPORTING DEBTS TO CON19 SUMER REPORTING AGENCIES. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 53 of title 38, United 

21 States Code, is amended by adding after section 5319 the 

22 following new section: 


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1 ‘‘§ 5320. Threshold for reporting debts to consumer 

2 reporting agencies 

3 ‘‘The Secretary shall prescribe regulations that estab4 lish the minimum amount of a claim or debt, arising from 

5 a benefit administered by the Under Secretary for Bene6 fits or Under Secretary for Health, that the Secretary will 

7 report to a consumer reporting agency under section 3711 

8 of title 31.’’. 

9 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

10 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by adding 

11 after the item relating to section 5319 the following new 

12 item: 

‘‘5320. Threshold for reporting debts to consumer reporting agencies.’’. 

13 (c) DEADLINE.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

14 shall prescribe regulations under section 5320 of such 

15 title, as added by subsection (a), not later than 180 days 

16 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

17 SEC. 4. REMOVAL OF DEPENDENTS FROM AWARD OF COM18 PENSATION OR PENSION. 

19 The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall ensure that— 

20 (1) a veteran may remove any dependent from 

21 an award of compensation or pension to the veteran 

22 using the eBenefits system of the Department of 

23 Veterans Affairs, or a successor system; and 


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1 (2) such removal takes effect not later than 60 

2 days after the date on which the veteran makes such 

3 removal. 

4 SEC. 5. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 

5 The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 

6 complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, 

7 shall be determined by reference to the latest statement 

8 titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ for this 

9 Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record 

10 by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, pro11 vided that such statement has been submitted prior to the 

12 vote on passage. 

Passed the House of Representatives September 23, 

2020. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 


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Calendar No. 555 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5245 

AN ACT 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide 

certain information, and for other purposes. erans Affairs by reason of delays in processing of overpayments made by the Department of Vetfor a bar on the recovery of certain payments or 

SEPTEMBER 24, 2020 

Received; read twice and placed on the calendar 


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