II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3047 

To establish a pilot program to support medical residency and fellowship 

programs that assist veterans, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 21, 2021 

Mr. PORTMAN (for himself and Ms. SINEMA) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To establish a pilot program to support medical residency 

and fellowship programs that assist veterans, 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 ‘‘Veterans Pro Bono 

5 Corps Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM TO SUPPORT MEDICAL RESI7 DENCY AND FELLOWSHIP PROGRAMS THAT 

8 ASSIST VETERANS. 

9 (a) PILOT PROGRAM REQUIRED.—Not later than 180 

10 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:58 Oct 26, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3047.IS S3047

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1 retary of Veterans Affairs shall commence a pilot program 

2 to assess the feasibility and advisability of providing as3 sistance to eligible recipients to establish or maintain pro4 grams that assist veterans applying for compensation 

5 under chapter 11 of title 38, United States Code, in sub6 stantiating their claims with independent medical exami7 nations and opinions. 

8 (b) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENTS.—For purposes of the 

9 pilot program required by subsection (a), an eligible recipi10 ent is an entity that— 

11 (1) is administering a medical residency or 

12 medical fellowship program in the United States or 

13 a territory of the United States; and 

14 (2) is accredited by a nationally recognized ac15 crediting agency. 

16 (c) DURATION.—The Secretary shall carry out the 

17 pilot program required by subsection (a) during the five18 year period beginning on the date of the commencement 

19 of the pilot program. 

20 (d) GRANTS.—The Secretary shall carry out the pilot 

21 program required by subsection (a) through the award of 

22 grants to eligible recipients to establish or maintain pro23 grams as described in such subsection. 


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1 (e) COMPETITIVE PROCESS.—The Secretary shall es2 tablish a competitive process for the award of the grants 

3 under the pilot program required by subsection (a). 

4 (f) SELECTION OF GRANT RECIPIENTS.—In award5 ing grants under the pilot program required by subsection 

6 (a), the Secretary may give preference to an eligible recipi7 ent located in a rural area or an underserved area. 

8 (g) USE OF GRANT FUNDS.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible recipient re10 ceiving a grant under the pilot program required by 

11 subsection (a) shall use the grant to establish or 

12 maintain a program as described in such subsection 

13 in which medical residents or fellows provide pro 

14 bono medical examinations and opinions for the pur15 poses described in such subsection. 

16 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—For each program estab17 lished or maintained with amounts from a grant 

18 under the pilot program— 

19 (A) medical residents and fellows shall 

20 practice under the supervision of attending phy21 sicians in accordance with such supervisory re22 quirements as the Secretary shall prescribe in 

23 regulations; 

24 (B) each attending physician providing 

25 such supervision shall be in good standing with 


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1 the medical licensing board of each State in 

2 which the attending physician is licensed; 

3 (C) each medical resident and fellow shall 

4 be in good standing with— 

5 (i) the program established or main6 tained with amounts from the grant; and 

7 (ii) the medical licensing board of 

8 each State in which the resident or fellow 

9 is licensed; 

10 (D) each medical resident, fellow, and at11 tending physician shall undergo training that is 

12 substantially the same as or equivalent to train13 ing required for medical examiners of the Vet14 erans Health Administration or contractors of 

15 the Department who conduct medical examina16 tions for purposes of supporting claims for com17 pensation under chapter 11 of title 38, United 

18 States Code; 

19 (E) medical residents shall be in their sec20 ond year or later of a medical residency; 

21 (F) the program shall not charge veterans 

22 fees for the services provided; 

23 (G) the program shall screen individual ap24 plicants who are veterans using such income eliVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:58 Oct 26, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3047.IS S3047

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1 gibility criteria as the Secretary shall prescribe 

2 in regulations; 

3 (H) the recipient of the grant shall, on an 

4 annual basis, provide the Secretary with an ac5 counting of how the recipient has used and allo6 cated grant funds; and 

7 (I) the program shall meet such other cri8 teria as the Secretary may prescribe in regula9 tions. 

10 (h) FORMS.—The Secretary shall provide to each re11 cipient of a grant under the pilot program required by sub12 section (a) all current disability benefits questionnaire 

13 forms of the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

14 (i) OUTREACH.—Not later than 180 days after the 

15 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall, in 

16 partnership with veterans service organizations, imple17 ment an informative outreach program for veterans re18 garding the availability of services from programs estab19 lished or maintained under the pilot program required by 

20 subsection (a). 

21 (j) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.— 

22 (1) VOLUNTARY PARTICIPATION.—Participation 

23 by any veteran in the pilot program required by sub24 section (a) shall be voluntary. 


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1 (2) RIGHT TO MEDICAL EXAMINATION.—Noth2 ing in this section shall be construed to invalidate or 

3 replace the right of a veteran to a medical examina4 tion provided by an employee or contractor of the 

5 Department of Veterans Affairs under section 

6 5103A(d) of title 38, United States Code. 

7 (k) ANNUAL REPORTS.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not less frequently than 

9 once each year for the duration of the pilot program 

10 required by subsection (a), the Secretary shall sub11 mit to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the 

12 Senate and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of 

13 the House of Representatives a report on the pilot 

14 program. 

15 (2) CONTENTS.—To the extent feasible, each 

16 report submitted under paragraph (1) shall include 

17 the following: 

18 (A) The average time to complete medical 

19 examinations and opinions under the pilot pro20 gram during the period covered by the report. 

21 (B) The number of medical examinations 

22 and opinions completed under the pilot program 

23 during such period. 

24 (C) The number of veterans served under 

25 the pilot program during such period. 


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1 (D) The number of cases during such pe2 riod in which personnel of the Veterans Bene3 fits Administration or the Board of Veterans’ 

4 Appeals found a medical examination or opinion 

5 under the pilot program to be inadequate for 

6 purposes of adjudicating a claim for compensa7 tion under chapter 11 of title 38, United States 

8 Code. 

9 (E) An analysis by the Secretary regarding 

10 the operational effectiveness and cost-effective11 ness of the services provided under the pilot 

12 program. 

13 (F) Such suggestions as the Secretary may 

14 have for legislative or administrative action to 

15 improve the pilot program. 

16 (l) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

17 (1) RURAL AREA.—The term ‘‘rural area’’ 

18 means an area classified as ‘‘rural’’ by the Bureau 

19 of the Census. 

20 (2) UNDERSERVED AREA.—The term ‘‘under21 served area’’ means an area that meets one or more 

22 of the following criteria: 

23 (A) The area has a high proportion of indi24 viduals who have limited access to health care. 


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1 (B) The area has a high proportion of in2 dividuals who have limited access to legal serv3 ices. 

4 (3) VETERANS SERVICE ORGANIZATION.—The 

5 term ‘‘veterans service organization’’ means an orga6 nization recognized by the Secretary for the rep7 resentation of veterans under section 5902 of title 

8 38, United States Code. 

Æ 


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