I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5416 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the automatic enrollment of eligible veterans in patient enrollment system of Department 

of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 12, 2023 

Mr. TAKANO introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the 

automatic enrollment of eligible veterans in patient enrollment system of Department 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 ‘‘Ensuring Veterans’ 

5 Smooth Transition Act’’ or the ‘‘EVEST Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. AUTOMATIC ENROLLMENT OF ELIGIBLE VETERANS 

2 IN PATIENT ENROLLMENT SYSTEM OF DE3 PARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1705 of title 38, United 

5 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing new subsection: 

7 ‘‘(d)(1) The Secretary shall enroll each veteran de8 scribed in subsection (a) in the patient enrollment system 

9 under this section by not later than 60 days after receiving 

10 the information described in paragraph (3) with respect 

11 to the veteran. 

12 ‘‘(2)(A) Not later than 60 days after enrolling a vet13 eran under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall provide to 

14 the veteran— 

15 ‘‘(i) notice of the veteran’s enrollment; 

16 ‘‘(ii) instructions for how the veteran may opt 

17 out of such enrollment, at the election of the vet18 eran; and 

19 ‘‘(iii) instructions for how the veteran may elect 

20 to enroll at a later date. 

21 ‘‘(B) In carrying out subparagraph (A), the Secretary 

22 shall consider using, to the extent practical, mass texting 

23 capabilities through mobile telephones. 

24 ‘‘(C) Any notice or instructions required to be pro25 vided under this paragraph shall be provided in the form 

26 of a physical copy delivered by mail and, to the extent 


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1 practical, in the form of an electronic copy delivered by 

2 electronic mail. 

3 ‘‘(3) The information described in this paragraph is 

4 the appropriate information concerning eligibility for en5 rollment in the patient enrollment system under this sec6 tion, as provided by the Defense Manpower Data Center 

7 of the Department of Defense, or such successor entity 

8 of the Department.’’. 

9 (b) APPLICABILITY.—Subsection (d) of section 1705 

10 of title 38, United States Code, as added by subsection 

11 (a), shall apply to a veteran who is discharged or sepa12 rated from the Armed Forces on or after the date that 

13 is 90 days before the date of the enactment of this Act 

14 and with respect to whom the Secretary receives the infor15 mation described in paragraph (3) of such subsection on 

16 or after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

17 (c) ELECTRONIC CERTIFICATES OF ELIGIBILITY FOR

18 DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS PATIENT ENROLL19 MENT SYSTEM.—Not later than August 1, 2024, the Sec20 retary of Veterans Affairs shall ensure that any veteran 

21 who is eligible for automatic enrollment in the patient en22 rollment system under subsection (d) of section 1705 of 

23 title 38, United States Code, as added by subsection (a), 

24 is able to access— 


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1 (1) an electronic version of the certificate of eli2 gibility showing the veteran’s eligibility for such en3 rollment; and 

4 (2) an electronic mechanism by which the vet5 eran may opt out of such enrollment. 

6 (d) PROVISION OF NOTICE AND INFORMATION.—The 

7 notice and instructions required to be provided under sub8 section (d)(2) of section 1705 of title 38, United States 

9 Code, as added by subsection (a), shall be provided in ac10 cordance with the established procedures of the Depart11 ment of Veterans Affairs with respect to the provision of 

12 similar types of notices and instructions. 

13 (e) REPORT ON AUTOMATIC ENROLLMENT.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

15 the first veteran is enrolled in the patient enrollment 

16 system of the Department of Veterans Affairs under 

17 subsection (d) of section 1705 of title 38, United 

18 States Code, as added by subsection (a), the Sec19 retary shall submit to Congress a report on the en20 rollment process under such subsection. Such report 

21 shall include each of the following: 

22 (A) A discussion of any anticipated chal23 lenges that occurred in implementing such sub24 section, the strategies used to address such 


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1 challenges, and the effectiveness of such strate2 gies. 

3 (B) A discussion of any unanticipated chal4 lenges that occurred in implementing such sub5 section, the strategies used to address such 

6 challenges, and the effectiveness of such strate7 gies. 

8 (C) Any additional information the Sec9 retary determines appropriate, including infor10 mation that may be useful to other Federal de11 partments and agencies considering the imple12 mentation of similar automatic enrollment pro13 grams. 

14 (2) FORM OF REPORT.—The report required 

15 under paragraph (1) shall be submitted in unclassi16 fied form, but may include a classified annex. 

17 SEC. 3. GAO REPORT ON NOTICE OF AUTOMATIC ENROLL18 MENT IN PATIENT ENROLLMENT SYSTEM OF 

19 DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 

20 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact21 ment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United 

22 States shall submit to Congress a report containing the 

23 results of a study to determine the best methods for the 

24 Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide notice under 

25 paragraph (2) of subsection (d) of section 1705 of title 


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1 38, United States Code, as added by section 2. In making 

2 such determination, the Comptroller General shall con3 sider needs of veterans based on— 

4 (1) age; 

5 (2) residence in urban areas; and 

6 (3) residence in rural areas. 

Æ 


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