IIB 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1725 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 24, 2017 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

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. 

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

2 

HR 1725 RFS

1 SECTION 1. REPORT ON PROGRESS OF DEPARTMENT OF 

2 VETERANS AFFAIRS ACCEPTABLE CLINICAL 

3 EVIDENCE INITIATIVE. 

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

5 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall sub6 mit to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate 

7 and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of 

8 Representatives a report on the progress of the Acceptable 

9 Clinical Evidence initiative of the Department of Veterans 

10 Affairs in reducing the necessity for in-person disability 

11 examinations and other efforts to comply with the provi12 sions of section 5125 of title 38, United States Code. 

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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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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1 SEC. 2. ANNUAL REPORT ON SUBMITTAL OF PRIVATE MED2 ICAL EVIDENCE IN SUPPORT OF CLAIMS FOR 

3 DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS BENE4 FITS. 

5 Not later than March 1 of fiscal years 2018 through 

6 2024, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to 

7 Congress a report that includes, for the calendar year pre8 ceding the year in which the report is submitted, the fol9 lowing for each regional office of the Department of Vet10 erans Affairs: 

11 (1) The number of times a veteran who sub12 mitted private medical evidence in support of a claim 

13 for compensation or pension under the laws adminis14 tered by the Secretary was scheduled for an exam15 ination performed by Department personnel because 

16 the private medical evidence submitted was deter17 mined to be unacceptable. 

18 (2) The most common reasons why private 

19 medical evidence submitted in support of claims for 

20 benefits under the laws administered by the Sec21 retary was determined to be unacceptable. 

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

23 benefits under the laws administered by the SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:01 May 25, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1725.RFS H1725
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1 retary were mostly commonly denied when private 

2 medical evidence was submitted. 

Passed the House of Representatives May 23, 2017. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk.