I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6231 

To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct a study on the 

feasibility and advisability of establishing a pilot program to support 

medical residency and fellowship programs that assist veterans, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 9, 2021 

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

Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct 

a study on the feasibility and advisability of establishing 

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’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. STUDY ON POTENTIAL PILOT PROGRAM TO SUP2 PORT MEDICAL RESIDENCY AND FELLOW3 SHIP PROGRAMS THAT ASSIST VETERANS. 

4 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the Sense of Con5 gress that— 

6 (1) the COVID–19 pandemic and other factors 

7 have contributed to a growing backlog of veterans 

8 needing medical disability examinations and opin9 ions; 

10 (2) access to medical disability examinations 

11 and opinions is critical for veterans to receive dis12 ability compensation benefits from the Department 

13 of Veterans Affairs; 

14 (3) there remains a need to train non-Depart15 ment of Veterans Affairs clinicians to understand 

16 and support the unique medical needs of disabled 

17 veterans; 

18 (4) veterans who are dissatisfied with medical 

19 disability examinations or opinions provided by em20 ployees or contractors of the Department of Vet21 erans Affairs may obtain and submit outside, inde22 pendent disability evaluations; however, most vet23 erans cannot afford to obtain such evaluations and 

24 most non-Department training clinicians are not fa25 miliar with the specific legal criteria and medical 


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1 findings necessary to prepare adequate disability ex2 amination reports and opinions; and 

3 (5) clinics within non-Department of Veterans 

4 Affairs medical residency and fellowship programs 

5 are a potential resource to supplement the current 

6 medical disability examination and opinion system 

7 carried out by employees and contractors of the De8 partment by— 

9 (A) affording disabled veterans with an10 other option for high-quality, outside, inde11 pendent disability evaluations; and 

12 (B) providing non-Department clinicians 

13 with clinical training and experience necessary 

14 to understand the unique medical needs of dis15 abled veterans. 

16 (b) STUDY REQUIRED.—The Secretary of Veterans 

17 Affairs shall conduct a study to assess the feasibility and 

18 advisability of— 

19 (1) establishing the pilot program described in 

20 subsection (d); and 

21 (2) using the disability benefits questionnaire 

22 forms as described in subsection (d)(8) to support 

23 such program. 

24 (c) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than one year 

25 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 


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1 of Veterans Affairs shall submit to Congress a report on 

2 the findings of the study conducted under subsection (b). 

3 (d) PILOT PROGRAM DESCRIBED.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The pilot program described 

5 in this section is a pilot program under which the 

6 Secretary of Veterans Affairs provides assistance to 

7 eligible recipients to establish or maintain programs 

8 that assist veterans applying for compensation under 

9 chapter 11 of title 38, United States Code, in sub10 stantiating their claims with independent medical ex11 aminations and opinions. 

12 (2) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENTS.—For purposes of 

13 the pilot program, an eligible recipient would be an 

14 entity that— 

15 (A) is administering a non-Department of 

16 Veterans Affairs medical residency or medical 

17 fellowship program in the United States or a 

18 territory of the United States; and 

19 (B) is accredited by a nationally recognized 

20 accrediting agency. 

21 (3) DURATION.—The Secretary would carry out 

22 the pilot program during the five-year period begin23 ning on the date of the commencement of the pilot 

24 program. 


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1 (4) GRANTS.—The Secretary would carry out 

2 the pilot program through the award of grants to el3 igible recipients to establish or maintain programs 

4 as described in paragraph (1). 

5 (5) COMPETITIVE PROCESS.—The Secretary 

6 would establish a competitive process for the award 

7 of the grants under the pilot program. 

8 (6) SELECTION OF GRANT RECIPIENTS.—In 

9 awarding grants under the pilot program, the Sec10 retary may give preference to an eligible recipient lo11 cated in a rural area or an underserved area. 

12 (7) USE OF GRANT FUNDS.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible recipient 

14 receiving a grant under the pilot program would 

15 use the grant to establish or maintain a pro16 gram as described in paragraph (1) in which 

17 medical residents or fellows provide pro bono 

18 medical examinations and opinions for the pur19 poses described in that paragraph. 

20 (B) REQUIREMENTS.—For each program 

21 established or maintained with amounts from a 

22 grant under the pilot program— 

23 (i) medical residents and fellows 

24 would practice under the supervision of at25 tending physicians in accordance with such 


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1 supervisory requirements as the Secretary 

2 would prescribe in regulations; 

3 (ii) each attending physician providing 

4 such supervision would be in good standing 

5 with the medical licensing board of each 

6 State in which the attending physician is 

7 licensed; 

8 (iii) each medical resident and fellow 

9 would be in good standing with— 

10 (I) the program established or 

11 maintained with amounts from the 

12 grant; and 

13 (II) the medical licensing board 

14 of each State in which the resident or 

15 fellow is licensed; 

16 (iv) each medical resident, fellow, and 

17 attending physician would undergo training 

18 that is substantially the same as or equiva19 lent to training required for medical exam20 iners of the Veterans Health Administra21 tion or contractors of the Department of 

22 Veterans Affairs who conduct medical ex23 aminations for purposes of supporting 

24 claims for compensation under chapter 11 

25 of title 38, United States Code; 


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1 (v) medical residents would be in their 

2 second year or later of a medical residency; 

3 (vi) the program would not charge 

4 veterans fees for the services provided; 

5 (vii) the program would screen indi6 vidual applicants who are veterans using 

7 such income eligibility criteria as the Sec8 retary would prescribe in regulations; 

9 (viii) the recipient of the grant would, 

10 on an annual basis, provide the Secretary 

11 with an accounting of how the recipient 

12 has used and allocated grant funds; and 

13 (ix) the program would meet such 

14 other criteria as the Secretary may pre15 scribe in regulations. 

16 (8) FORMS.—The Secretary would provide to 

17 each recipient of a grant under the pilot program all 

18 current disability benefits questionnaire forms of the 

19 Department of Veterans Affairs. 

20 (9) OUTREACH.—The Secretary would, in part21 nership with veterans service organizations, imple22 ment an informative outreach program for veterans 

23 regarding the availability of services from programs 

24 established or maintained under the pilot program. 

25 (10) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.— 


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1 (A) VOLUNTARY PARTICIPATION.—Partici2 pation by any veteran in the pilot program 

3 would be voluntary. 

4 (B) RIGHT TO MEDICAL EXAMINATION.— 

5 Administration of the pilot program would not 

6 be construed to invalidate or replace the right 

7 of a veteran to a medical examination provided 

8 by an employee or contractor of the Depart9 ment of Veterans Affairs under section 

10 5103A(d) of title 38, United States Code. 

11 (11) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

12 (A) The term ‘‘rural area’’ means an area 

13 classified as ‘‘rural’’ by the Bureau of the Cen14 sus. 

15 (B) The term ‘‘underserved area’’ means 

16 an area that meets one or more of the following 

17 criteria: 

18 (i) The area has a high proportion of 

19 individuals who have limited access to 

20 health care. 

21 (ii) The area has a high proportion of 

22 individuals who have limited access to legal 

23 services. 

24 (C) The term ‘‘veterans service organiza25 tion’’ means an organization recognized by the 


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1 Secretary for the representation of veterans 

2 under section 5902 of title 38, United States 

3 Code. 

Æ 


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