II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 706 

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. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 23, 2017 

Mr. FRANKEN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

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. 

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 ‘‘Quicker Veterans Ben5 efits Delivery Act of 2017’’. 


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•S 706 IS

1 SEC. 2. TREATMENT OF MEDICAL EVIDENCE PROVIDED BY 

2 NON-DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS 

3 MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS IN SUPPORT OF 

4 CLAIMS FOR DISABILITY COMPENSATION. 

5 (a) ACCEPTANCE OF REPORTS OF PRIVATE PHYSI6 CIAN EXAMINATIONS.—Section 5125 of title 38, United 

7 States Code, is amended— 

8 (1) by striking ‘‘For purposes’’ and inserting 

9 the following: 

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—For purposes’’; 

11 (2) in subsection (a), as designated by para12 graph (1), by striking ‘‘may’’ and inserting ‘‘shall’’; 

13 and 

14 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub15 section: 

16 ‘‘(b) SUFFICIENTLY COMPLETE DEFINED.—For pur17 poses of a report described in subsection (a), the term ‘suf18 ficiently complete’ means competent, credible, probative, 

19 and containing such information as may be required to 

20 make a decision on the claim for which the report is pro21 vided.’’. 

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

23 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to medical evidence 

24 submitted after the date that is 90 days after the date 

25 of the enactment of this Act. 


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•S 706 IS

1 SEC. 3. REPORT ON PROGRESS OF ACCEPTABLE CLINICAL 

2 EVIDENCE INITIATIVE. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

4 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Vet5 erans Affairs shall submit to the Committee on Veterans’ 

6 Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Veterans’ Af7 fairs of the House of Representatives a report on the 

8 progress of the Acceptable Clinical Evidence initiative of 

9 the Department of Veterans Affairs in reducing the neces10 sity for in-person disability examinations and other efforts 

11 to comply with the provisions of section 5125 of title 38, 

12 United States Code, as amended by section 2. 

13 (b) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—The report required by 

14 subsection (a) shall include the following: 

15 (1) The number of claims eligible for the Ac16 ceptable Clinical Evidence initiative during the pe17 riod beginning on the date of the commencement of 

18 the initiative and ending on the date of the sub19 mittal of the report, disaggregated by fiscal year. 

20 (2) The total number of claims eligible for the 

21 Acceptable Clinical Evidence initiative that required 

22 a medical examiner of the Department to supple23 ment the evidence with information obtained during 

24 a telephone interview with a claimant. 

25 (3) Information on any other initiatives or ef26 forts of the Department to further encourage the 


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•S 706 IS

1 use of private medical evidence and reliance upon re2 ports of a medical examination administered by a 

3 private physician if the report is sufficiently com4 plete to be adequate for the purposes of adjudicating 

5 a claim. 

6 (4) The anticipated impact on the timeline and 

7 accuracy of a decision on a claim for benefits under 

8 chapter 11 or 15 of title 38, United States Code, if 

9 the Secretary were prohibited from requesting a 

10 medical examination in the case of a claim in sup11 port of which a claimant submits medical evidence 

12 and a medical opinion provided by a private physi13 cian that is competent, credible, probative, and oth14 erwise adequate for the purpose of making a deci15 sion on that claim. 

16 (5) Recommendations on how the Department 

17 can measure, track, and prevent the ordering of un18 necessary medical examinations when the provision 

19 by a claimant of a medical examination administered 

20 by a private physician in support of a claim for ben21 efits under chapter 11 or 15 of title 38, United 

22 States Code, is adequate for the purpose of making 

23 a decision on that claim. 


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•S 706 IS

1 SEC. 4. ANNUAL REPORT. 

2 Not later than March 1 of each year, the Secretary 

3 of Veterans Affairs shall submit to Congress a report that 

4 includes, for the calendar year preceding the year in which 

5 the report is submitted, the following for each regional of6 fice of the Department of Veterans Affairs: 

7 (1) The number of times a veteran who sub8 mitted private medical evidence in support of a claim 

9 for compensation or pension under the laws adminis10 tered by the Secretary was scheduled for an exam11 ination performed by Department personnel because 

12 the private medical evidence submitted was deter13 mined to be unacceptable. 

14 (2) The most common reasons why private 

15 medical evidence submitted in support of claims for 

16 benefits under the laws administered by the Sec17 retary was determined to be unacceptable. 

18 (3) The types of disabilities for which claims for 

19 benefits under the laws administered by the Sec20 retary were most commonly denied when private 

21 medical evidence was submitted. 

Æ 


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