I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3530 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans 

Affairs to enforce the licensure requirement for medical providers of 

the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 27, 2019 

Mr. CLOUD (for himself, Mr. BERGMAN, and Mr. PETERSON) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to enforce the licensure requirement for medical providers of the Department of 

Veterans Affairs. 

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 ‘‘Improving Confidence 

5 in Veterans’ Care Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ENFORCEMENT OF LICENSURE REQUIREMENT FOR 

2 MEDICAL PROVIDERS OF THE DEPARTMENT 

3 OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 7402 of title 38, United 

5 States Code, is amended— 

6 (1) in subsection (f)— 

7 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘more 

8 than one’’ and inserting ‘‘one or more’’; and 

9 (B) in paragraph (2)(A), by inserting be10 fore the semicolon the following: ‘‘, or, if the 

11 position requires the person to prescribe con12 trolled substances, the Drug Enforcement 

13 Agency registration of the person has been ter14 minated, revoked, or surrendered, and the per15 son has not received a waiver from the Drug 

16 Enforcement Agency’’; 

17 (2) by redesignating subsection (g) as sub18 section (h); and 

19 (3) by inserting after subsection (f) the fol20 lowing new subsection (g): 

21 ‘‘(g)(1) The Secretary shall take prompt and appro22 priate adverse personnel actions pursuant to this chapter 

23 against an employee who— 

24 ‘‘(A) is not licensed, registered, certified, or in 

25 receipt of a waiver, as required by subsection (f); or 


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1 ‘‘(B) who does not promptly notify the Sec2 retary of any suspension in such license, registra3 tion, or certification. 

4 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall conduct biennial audits of 

5 employees covered by subsection (f) to ensure that the em6 ployee is licensed, registered, or certified as required by 

7 such subsection. 

8 ‘‘(3) The Secretary shall ensure that the hiring proc9 ess for employees covered by subsection (f) includes— 

10 ‘‘(A) requesting from the individual applying 

11 for the position the status of the licensure, registra12 tion, or certification of the individual as required by 

13 such subsection, including a description of any ac14 tions the individual must take to fulfill such licen15 sure, registration, or certification requirement before 

16 beginning such employment; and 

17 ‘‘(B) verifying such status before the individual 

18 begins such employment. 

19 ‘‘(4) The Secretary shall provide annual training to 

20 directors of Veterans Integrated Service Networks, direc21 tors of Department health-care facilities, and chiefs of 

22 staff of Department health-care facilities (and such other 

23 employees as the directors or chiefs of staff determine ap24 propriate) with respect to carrying out this subsection and 

25 subsection (f).’’. 


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1 (b) TRAINING.—Not later than 60 days after the date 

2 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans 

3 Affairs shall submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Af4 fairs of the House of Representatives and the Senate a 

5 report describing the training that will be provided under 

6 subsection (g)(4) of section 7402 of title 38, United States 

7 Code, as added by subsection (a). 

Æ 


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