II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1616

To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to develop within the Department

of Veterans Affairs a system for collecting payments under the Medical

Care Cost Recovery Program that utilizes collection practices similar

to private collection practices, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

SEPTEMBER 22, 1999

Mr. LOTT (for Mr. MCCAIN) introduced the following bill; which was read

twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs

A BILL

To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to develop within the Department of Veterans Affairs a system for

collecting payments under the Medical Care Cost Recovery Program that utilizes collection practices similar to

private collection practices, 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,
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1 SECTION 1. DEVELOPMENT WITHIN DEPARTMENT OF VET2 ERANS AFFAIRS OF SYSTEM OF COLLEC3 TIONS UNDER MEDICAL CARE COST RECOV4 ERY PROGRAM USING PRIVATE COLLECTION

5 PRACTICES.

6 (a) DEVELOPMENT OF PROPOSAL.—(1) The Sec7 retary of Veterans Affairs shall develop a proposal for a

8 system within the Department of Veterans Affairs for the

9 collection of payments from third party payers under the

10 Medical Care Cost Recovery Program of the Department

11 which system shall, to the maximum extent practicable,

12 utilize procedures for the collection of payments from third

13 parties similar to the procedures utilized in the private

14 sector for the collection of payments for health care costs

15 from third parties.

16 (2) In developing the proposal, the Secretary shall

17 consider a variety of procedures utilized in the private sec18 tor for the collection of payments for health care costs

19 from third parties.

20 (b) USE OF PRIVATE COST-RECOVERY ENTITIES

21 DURING DEVELOPMENT.—(1) Notwithstanding any other

22 provision of law, the Secretary shall, during the period re23 ferred to in paragraph (3), provide for the collection of

24 payments from third party payers under the Medical Care

25 Cost Recovery Program solely through appropriate private
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1 entities with which the Secretary contracts for that pur2 pose.

3 (2) The fee paid a private entity for the collection

4 of payments under a contract under this subsection shall

5 be a contingent fee based on the amount of payments col6 lected by the entity under the contract.

7 (3) The period referred to in this paragraph is the

8 period beginning as soon as practicable after the date of

9 the enactment of this Act and ending on the date that

10 is six months after the date on which the Secretary com11 mences collections under the Medical Care Cost Recovery

12 Program through a system within the Department under

13 this section.

14 (c) SAFEGUARDS.—The Secretary shall take appro15 priate actions to ensure that any collection practices uti16 lized under this section do not impose unwarranted finan17 cial or other burdens upon veterans who receive medical

18 care from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

19 (d) SUBMITTAL OF PROPOSAL.—Not later than three

20 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec21 retary shall submit to Congress a report on the proposal

22 developed under subsection (a). The report shall include—

23 (1) a description of the system covered by the

24 proposal; and
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1 (2) an assessment by an appropriate entity

2 independent of the Department of the potential ef3 fectiveness of the collection procedures under the

4 system in comparison with the effectiveness of the

5 collection procedures of the private entities utilized

6 under subsection (b).

7 (e) IMPLEMENTATION OF PROPOSAL.—The Secretary

8 shall implement the system covered by the proposal sub9 mitted under subsection (d) commencing 90 days after the

10 date on which the Secretary submits to Congress the pro11 posal on the system under that subsection.

12 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—(1)

13 There are authorized to be appropriated for the Depart14 ment of Veterans Affairs such sums as may be necessary

15 for purposes of developing the proposal for a system re16 quired by subsection (a) and implementing the system

17 under subsection (e).

18 (2) Amounts appropriated pursuant to the authoriza19 tion of appropriations in paragraph (1) shall remain avail20 able until expended.

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