I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2088 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a pilot program 

to establish claims adjudication centers of excellence. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 22, 2013 

Mr. MICHAUD (for himself, Mr. MCINTYRE, Ms. KUSTER, Ms. BROWNLEY of 

California, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York, Ms. FRANKEL of Florida, Ms. 

LEE of California, Mr. HECK of Nevada, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Mrs. 

BUSTOS, Mr. BISHOP of New York, and Mr. KILMER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out 

a pilot program to establish claims adjudication centers 

of excellence. 

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

3 SECTION 1. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS PILOT 

4 PROGRAM ON CLAIMS ADJUDICATION CEN5 TERS OF EXCELLENCE. 

6 (a) PILOT PROGRAM.—The Secretary shall carry out 

7 a three-year pilot program under which the Secretary shall 

8 establish in the Department of Veterans Affairs 12 claims 


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1 adjudication centers of excellence in accordance with this 

2 section. 

3 (b) SELECTION OF LOCATIONS.—The Secretary shall 

4 select the three highest performing regional offices in each 

5 of the four areas of the Veterans Benefits Administration 

6 as the locations of the centers of excellence. To determine 

7 which of the regional offices are the three highest per8 forming, the Secretary shall evaluate the quality and accu9 racy ratings of each of the regional offices and the average 

10 number of days a claim submitted to each of the regional 

11 offices is pending. 

12 (c) FOCUS OF CENTERS.— 

13 (1) SELECTION OF MEDICAL CONDITIONS.— 

14 Each center of excellence established under this sec15 tion shall focus on adjudicating claims relating to 

16 one medical condition selected by the Secretary. The 

17 Secretary shall select medical conditions for such 

18 purpose that are among the most complex and time 

19 consuming, for purposes of adjudication, and that 

20 occur commonly enough to support the work of the 

21 centers. 

22 (2) ADJUDICATION OF OTHER CLAIMS.—If no 

23 claims relating to the medical condition which is the 

24 focus of a center are pending adjudication, employVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:32 May 24, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2088.IH H2088

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1 ees of the center shall adjudicate claims relating to 

2 other medical conditions. 

3 (d) EMPLOYEES.— 

4 (1) EMPLOYEE TRAINING.—Each employee of a 

5 center of excellence established under this section 

6 shall— 

7 (A) receive specific training related to the 

8 medical condition on which the center where the 

9 employee is employed is focused; 

10 (B) be required to pass an examination de11 signed to certify the employee’s ability to adju12 dicate claims relating to such medical condition 

13 to a high performing standard; and 

14 (C) work primarily, to the extent prac15 ticable, adjudicating claims for which the em16 ployee has received specialized training. 

17 (2) EMPLOYMENT AT MORE THAN ONE CEN18 TER.— 

19 (A) CONCURRENT EMPLOYMENT.—No em20 ployee may be employed concurrently at more 

21 than one center established under this section. 

22 (B) SUBSEQUENT EMPLOYMENT.—If the 

23 Secretary determines appropriate, an employee 

24 may move from one center to another as long 

25 as the employee receives specialized training apVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:32 May 24, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2088.IH H2088

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1 propriate for the center to which the employee 

2 moves. 

3 (3) ADDITIONAL FULL TIME EMPLOYEES AU4 THORIZED.—The Secretary may assign additional 

5 full-time employees to a regional office designated as 

6 a center of excellence under this section as the Sec7 retary determines necessary. For any full-time em8 ployee of a regional office who is assigned to a cen9 ter of excellence under this section, the director of 

10 the regional office shall hire an additional full-time 

11 employee at the regional office. 

12 (e) DEADLINE FOR SELECTION OF MEDICAL CONDI13 TIONS.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall select the 

14 medical conditions on which the claims adjudication cen15 ters of excellence established under this section shall focus 

16 by not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment 

17 of this Act. 

Æ 


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