39–006 

113TH CONGRESS REPT. 113–227 " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 1st Session Part 2 

VETERANS ACCOUNTABILITY ACT OF 2013 

OCTOBER 7, 2013.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State 

of the Union and ordered to be printed 

Mr. MILLER of Florida, from the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, 

submitted the following 

SUPPLEMENTAL REPORT 

[To accompany H.R. 1804] 

This supplemental report includes a correction to the prose under 

the heading relating to Background and Need for Legislation describing sections 3 and 4 of the bill (H.R. 1804), as reported. This 

supplemental report also includes the required Statement of Duplication of Federal Programs and the required Disclosure of Directed 

Rulemaking, which was not included in the report submitted on 

September 25, 2013 (H. Rept. 113–227, pt.1). 

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

Section 3—Reporting of Infectious Diseases at Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Facilities 

Currently, VA is not required by law to report the incidence of 

infectious disease at VA facilities to State and local health officials. 

Section 3 of H.R. 1804, as amended, as derived from H.R. 1792, as 

amended, would require VA to report infectious diseases diagnosed 

at VA medical facilities in accordance with the laws of the state the 

facility is located. This section was advanced in response to a number of infectious disease issues at VA facilities nationwide, including the deadly outbreak of Legionnaires’ Disease at the Pittsburgh 

VA Healthcare System from February, 2011 to November, 2012 

that killed at least five veterans and sickened as many as 22. 

According to expert witnesses who testified before the Committee, timely disease surveillance is critical to disease control. Delayed, incomplete, or inconsistent reporting can compromise an effective response and result in the spread of infection. As one of the 

Nation’s largest health care providers, VA must participate in infectious disease reporting along with all other medical facilities 

within each State they are located. 


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Section 4—Prohibition of Visual Recording without Informed Consent 

Section 4 of H.R. 1804, as amended, directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to prescribe regulations to ensure that any visual recording made of a patient during the course of furnishing care 

through the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is carried out 

only with the full and informed consent of that patient or, in appropriate cases, a representative thereof. 

Section 4 of H.R. 1804, as amended, would allow the Secretary 

to waive such requirement if the recording is made: (1) upon a determination by a physician or psychologist that the recording is 

medically necessary, (2) pursuant to a warrant or order of a court 

of competent jurisdiction, or (3) in a public setting where a person 

would not have a reasonable expectation to privacy (such as a waiting room or hallway) and the recording is for general security purposes not particularized to the patient. 

This bill was introduced in response to a specific incident at a 

VA medical facility where a covert camera was discovered in a patient’s treatment room. Upon inquiry, the VA indicated that it had 

not yet implemented a national policy on video surveillance. Section 4 of H.R. 1804, as amended, would ensure the basic privacy 

rights of the men and women who have served our country when 

they seek treatment at VA medical facilities. 

STATEMENT ON DUPLICATION OF FEDERAL PROGRAMS

Pursuant to section 3(j) of H. Res. 5, 113th Cong. (2013), the 

Committee finds that no provision of H.R. 1804, as amended, establishes or reauthorizes a program of the Federal Government known 

to be duplicative of another Federal program, a program that was 

included in any report from the Government Accountability Office 

to Congress pursuant to section 21 of Public Law 111–139, or a 

program related to a program identified in the most recent Catalog 

of Federal Domestic Assistance. 

DISCLOSURE OF DIRECTED RULEMAKING

Pursuant to section 3(k) of H. Res. 5, 113th Cong. (2013), the 

Committee estimates that H.R. 1804, as amended, contains one directed rule making at section 4 requiring the Secretary to prescribe 

regulations regarding the visual recording of patients in Department of Veterans Affairs medical facilities. 

Æ 


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