I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4191 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the treatment of medical 

evidence provided by non-Department of Veterans Affairs medical professionals in support of claims for disability compensation under the laws 

administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 11, 2014 

Mr. WALZ (for himself, Mr. BARBER, Mr. DENHAM, Ms. ESTY, Ms. FRANKEL

of Florida, Ms. KUSTER, and Mr. O’ROURKE) introduced the following 

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

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the 

treatment of medical evidence provided by non-Department of Veterans Affairs medical professionals in support 

of claims for disability compensation under the laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, 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 ‘‘Quicker Veterans Ben5 efits Delivery Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. TREATMENT OF MEDICAL EVIDENCE PROVIDED BY 

2 NON-DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS 

3 MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS IN SUPPORT OF 

4 CLAIMS FOR DISABILITY COMPENSATION. 

5 (a) ACCEPTANCE OF REPORTS OF PRIVATE PHYSI6 CIAN EXAMINATIONS.—Section 5125 of such title is 

7 amended— 

8 (1) by striking ‘‘For purposes’’ and inserting 

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—’’; 

10 (2) by striking ‘‘may’’ and inserting ‘‘shall’’; 

11 and 

12 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub13 section: 

14 ‘‘(b) SUFFICIENTLY COMPLETE DEFINED.—For pur15 poses of a report described in subsection (a), the term ‘suf16 ficiently complete’ means competent, credible, probative, 

17 and containing such information as may be required to 

18 make a decision on the claim for which the report is pro19 vided.’’. 

20 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

21 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to medical evidence 

22 submitted after the date that is 90 days after the date 

23 of the enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 3. REPORT ON PROGRESS OF ACCEPTABLE CLINICAL 

2 EVIDENCE INITIATIVE. 

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

4 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall sub5 mit to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate 

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

7 Representatives a report on the progress of the Acceptable 

8 Clinical Evidence initiative of the Department of Veterans 

9 Affairs in reducing the necessity for in-person disability 

10 examinations and other efforts to comply with the provi11 sions of section 5125 of title 38, United States Code, as 

12 amended by section 2. 

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 enactment of this 

18 Act, disaggregated by fiscal year. 

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

20 Acceptable Clinical Evidence initiative that required 

21 a medical examiner of the Department to supple22 ment the evidence with information obtained during 

23 a telephone interview with a claimant. 

24 (3) Information on any other initiatives or ef25 forts of the Department to further encourage the 

26 use of private medical evidence and reliance upon reVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:13 Mar 13, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4191.IH H4191

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1 ports of a medical examination administered by a 

2 private physician if the report is sufficiently com3 plete to be adequate for the purposes of adjudicating 

4 a claim. 

5 (4) The anticipated impact on the timeline and 

6 accuracy of a decision on a claim for benefits under 

7 chapter 11 or 15 of title 38, United States Code, if 

8 the Secretary were prohibited from requesting a 

9 medical examination in the case of a claim in sup10 port of which a claimant submits medical evidence 

11 and a medical opinion provided by a private physi12 cian that is competent, credible, probative, and oth13 erwise adequate for the purpose of making a deci14 sion on that claim. 

15 (5) Recommendations on how the Department 

16 can measure, track, and prevent the ordering of un17 necessary medical examinations when the provision 

18 by a claimant of a medical examination administered 

19 by a private physician in support of a claim for ben20 efits under chapter 11 or 15 of title 38, United 

21 States Code, is adequate for the purpose of making 

22 a decision on that claim. 

23 SEC. 4. ANNUAL REPORT. 

24 Not later than March 1 of each year, the Secretary 

25 of Veterans Affairs shall submit to Congress a report that 


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

2 the report is submitted, the following for each regional of3 fice of the Department of Veterans Affairs: 

4 (1) The number of times a veteran who sub5 mitted private medical evidence in support of a claim 

6 for compensation or pension under the laws adminis7 tered by the Secretary was scheduled for an exam8 ination performed by Department personnel because 

9 the private medical evidence submitted was deter10 mined to be unacceptable. 

11 (2) The most common reasons why private 

12 medical evidence submitted in support of claims for 

13 benefits under the laws administered by the Sec14 retary was determined to be unacceptable. 

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

16 benefits under the laws administered by the Sec17 retary were mostly commonly denied when private 

18 medical evidence was submitted. 

Æ 


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