H. R. 1725 

One Hundred Fifteenth Congress 

of the 

United States of America 

AT THE SECOND SESSION 

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday, 

the third day of January, two thousand and eighteen 

An Act 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit certain reports relating to 

medical evidence submitted in support of claims for benefits under the laws 

administered by the Secretary. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 

the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. REPORT ON PROGRESS OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 

AFFAIRS ACCEPTABLE CLINICAL EVIDENCE INITIATIVE. 

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

the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on 

Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives a report on the 

progress of the Acceptable Clinical Evidence initiative of the Department of Veterans Affairs in reducing the necessity for in-person 

disability examinations and other efforts to comply with the provisions of section 5125 of title 38, United States Code. 

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

(a) shall include the following: 

(1) The number of claims eligible for the Acceptable Clinical 

Evidence initiative during the period beginning on the date 

of the commencement of the initiative and ending on the date 

of the submittal of the report, disaggregated by fiscal year. 

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

Clinical Evidence initiative that required a medical examiner 

of the Department to supplement the evidence with information 

obtained during a telephone interview with a claimant. 

(3) Information on any other initiatives or efforts of the 

Department to further encourage the use of private medical 

evidence and reliance upon reports of a medical examination 

administered by a private physician if the report is sufficiently 

complete to be adequate for the purposes of adjudicating a 

claim. 

(4) The anticipated impact on the timeline and accuracy 

of a decision on a claim for benefits under chapter 11 or 

15 of title 38, United States Code, if the Secretary were prohibited from requesting a medical examination in the case of 

a claim in support of which a claimant submits medical evidence 

and a medical opinion provided by a private physician that 

is competent, credible, probative, and otherwise adequate for 

the purpose of making a decision on that claim. 

(5) Recommendations on how the Department can measure, 

track, and prevent the ordering of unnecessary medical 

examinations when the provision by a claimant of a medical 
H. R. 1725—2 

examination administered by a private physician in support 

of a claim for benefits under chapter 11 or 15 of title 38, 

United States Code, is adequate for the purpose of making 

a decision on that claim. 

SEC. 2. ANNUAL REPORT ON SUBMITTAL OF PRIVATE MEDICAL EVIDENCE IN SUPPORT OF CLAIMS FOR DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS BENEFITS. 

Not later than March 1 of fiscal years 2018 through 2024, 

the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to Congress a report 

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

the report is submitted, the following for each regional office of 

the Department of Veterans Affairs: 

(1) The number of times a veteran who submitted private 

medical evidence in support of a claim for compensation or 

pension under the laws administered by the Secretary was 

scheduled for an examination performed by Department personnel because the private medical evidence submitted was 

determined to be unacceptable. 

(2) The most common reasons why private medical evidence 

submitted in support of claims for benefits under the laws 

administered by the Secretary was determined to be unacceptable. 

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

under the laws administered by the Secretary were mostly 

commonly denied when private medical evidence was submitted. 

Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.