II 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2091 

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

Department of Veterans Affairs of claims for benefits under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 6, 2014 

Mr. HELLER (for himself, Mr. CASEY, Mr. MORAN, Mr. HEINRICH, Mr. VITTER, and Mr. TESTER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice 

and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

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

processing by the Department of Veterans Affairs of 

claims for benefits under 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘21st Century Veterans Benefits Delivery Act’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 


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TITLE I—BENEFITS CLAIMS SUBMISSION 

Sec. 101. Modification of Transition Assistance Program to enable online participation. 

Sec. 102. Requirement to encourage claimants to use appropriate forms. 

Sec. 103. Required communications to users of eBenefits Internet website. 

Sec. 104. Extension of authority for retroactive date of awards for filing fully 

developed claims. 

Sec. 105. Requirement that decisions on claims explain benefits of filing appeals within 180 days. 

Sec. 106. Requirement to use Department of Veterans Affairs form 21–0958 

in regional offices for filing of notices of disagreement. 

Sec. 107. Determination of manner of appearance for hearings before Board of 

Veterans’ Appeals. 

TITLE II—PRACTICES OF REGIONAL OFFICES 

Sec. 201. Required Comptroller General audit of regional offices of Veterans 

Benefits Administration. 

Sec. 202. Study on service-connected disabilities that worsen with age. 

Sec. 203. Improvements to authority for performance of medical disabilities examinations by contract physician. 

Sec. 204. Improvement of mail processing by Department of Veterans Affairs. 

Sec. 205. Review of practices of regional offices regarding use of suspense 

dates. 

Sec. 206. Semiannual reports on progress in implementing Veterans Benefits 

Management System. 

Sec. 207. Annual report on capacity of Veterans Benefits Administration to 

process benefits claims. 

Sec. 208. Increased transparency in Monday Morning Workload Report. 

Sec. 209. Reports on appeals of decisions on benefits claims. 

TITLE III—GOVERNMENT RESPONSE 

Sec. 301. Increased cooperation across Government. 

Sec. 302. Report on interoperability between electronic health records systems 

of Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs. 

1 TITLE I—BENEFITS CLAIMS 

2 SUBMISSION 

3 SEC. 101. MODIFICATION OF TRANSITION ASSISTANCE PRO4 GRAM TO ENABLE ONLINE PARTICIPATION. 

5 Section 1144 of title 10, United States Code, is 

6 amended by adding at the end the following new sub7 section: 

8 ‘‘(f) ONLINE CURRICULUM.—(1) The Secretary of 

9 Labor, in conjunction with the Secretary of Defense, the 


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1 Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Secretary of Vet2 erans Affairs, shall take such actions and make such modi3 fications to the eBenefits Internet website as may be nec4 essary to ensure that members of the armed forces and 

5 spouses described in subsection (a)(1) can participate in 

6 the program carried out under this section through such 

7 Internet website. 

8 ‘‘(2) An individual subject to a requirement under 

9 subsection (c) may not satisfy such requirement by partici10 pating in the program carried out under this section solely 

11 through an Internet website.’’. 

12 SEC. 102. REQUIREMENT TO ENCOURAGE CLAIMANTS TO 

13 USE APPROPRIATE FORMS. 

14 The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall encourage 

15 each individual who is seeking to file a claim with the Sec16 retary for a benefit under a law administered by the Sec17 retary to file such claim using an appropriate form estab18 lished by the Secretary for such purpose. 

19 SEC. 103. REQUIRED COMMUNICATIONS TO USERS OF 

20 EBENEFITS INTERNET WEBSITE. 

21 (a) AUTOMATED NOTIFICATION OF RESOURCES.— 

22 The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall take such meas23 ures as may be necessary so that whenever an individual 

24 establishes an account on the eBenefits Internet website 

25 of the Department of Veterans Affairs and Department 


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1 of Defense an e-mail is sent to the individual that includes 

2 a description of the following: 

3 (1) The benefits of filing a fully developed 

4 claim. 

5 (2) Where the individual can go to obtain as6 sistance in filing a fully developed claim, including 

7 the following: 

8 (A) The Department of Veterans Affairs. 

9 (B) An organization recognized by the Sec10 retary for the representation of veterans under 

11 section 5902 of title 38, United States Code. 

12 (b) ALTERNATE COMMUNICATION.—Whenever the 

13 Secretary sends a message to an individual through the 

14 eBenefits Internet website described in subsection (a), the 

15 Secretary shall also send such message to the individual 

16 through the use of a second medium selected by the indi17 vidual, such as by telephone or by sending an e-mail to 

18 a private e-mail address of the individual. 

19 SEC. 104. EXTENSION OF AUTHORITY FOR RETROACTIVE 

20 DATE OF AWARDS FOR FILING FULLY DEVEL21 OPED CLAIMS. 

22 Section 5110(b)(2)(C) of title 38, United States 

23 Code, is amended by striking ‘‘the date that is three years 

24 after the date of the enactment of such Act’’ and inserting 

25 ‘‘September 30, 2020’’. 


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1 SEC. 105. REQUIREMENT THAT DECISIONS ON CLAIMS EX2 PLAIN BENEFITS OF FILING APPEALS WITHIN 

3 180 DAYS. 

4 Section 5104(a) of title 38, United States Code, is 

5 amended— 

6 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘In the case’’; and 

7 (2) by striking the second sentence and insert8 ing the following new paragraph: 

9 ‘‘(2) The notice shall include the following: 

10 ‘‘(A) An explanation of the procedure for ob11 taining review of the decision. 

12 ‘‘(B) An explanation of the benefits of filing for 

13 review of the decision within 180 days.’’. 

14 SEC. 106. REQUIREMENT TO USE DEPARTMENT OF VET15 ERANS AFFAIRS FORM 21–0958 IN REGIONAL 

16 OFFICES FOR FILING OF NOTICES OF DIS17 AGREEMENT. 

18 The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall use Depart19 ment of Veterans Affairs form 21–0958, or such other 

20 form as the Secretary may require, in each of the regional 

21 offices of the Department for purposes of filing notices 

22 of disagreement under section 7105(b) of title 38, United 

23 States Code. 


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1 SEC. 107. DETERMINATION OF MANNER OF APPEARANCE 

2 FOR HEARINGS BEFORE BOARD OF VET3 ERANS’ APPEALS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 7107 of title 38, United 

5 States Code, is amended— 

6 (1) by striking subsection (e); 

7 (2) by redesignating subsections (d) and (f) as 

8 subsections (f) and (g), respectively; 

9 (3) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol10 lowing new subsections (d) and (e): 

11 ‘‘(d)(1) Subject to paragraph (2), a hearing before 

12 the Board shall be conducted, as the Board considers ap13 propriate— 

14 ‘‘(A) in person; or 

15 ‘‘(B) through picture and voice transmission, by 

16 electronic or other means, in such manner that the 

17 appellant is not present in the same location as the 

18 members of the Board during the hearing. 

19 ‘‘(2) Upon request by an appellant, a hearing before 

20 the Board shall be conducted, as the appellant considers 

21 appropriate— 

22 ‘‘(A) in person; or 

23 ‘‘(B) through picture and voice transmission as 

24 described in paragraph (1)(B). 

25 ‘‘(e)(1) In a case in which a hearing before the Board 

26 is to be conducted through picture and voice transmission 


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1 as described in subsection (d)(1)(B), the Secretary shall 

2 provide suitable facilities and equipment to the Board or 

3 other components of the Department to enable an appel4 lant located at an appropriate facility within the area 

5 served by a regional office to participate as so described. 

6 ‘‘(2) Any hearing conducted through picture and 

7 voice transmission as described in subsection (d)(1)(B) 

8 shall be conducted in the same manner as, and shall be 

9 considered the equivalent of, a personal hearing.’’; and 

10 (4) in subsection (f)(1), as redesignated by 

11 paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘An appellant may re12 quest’’ and all that follows through ‘‘office of the 

13 Department’’ and inserting ‘‘In a case in which a 

14 hearing before the Board is to be conducted in per15 son, the hearing shall be held at the principal loca16 tion of the Board or at a facility of the Department 

17 located within the area served by a regional office of 

18 the Department.’’. 

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

20 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to cases received 

21 by the Board of Veterans’ Appeals pursuant to notices of 

22 disagreement submitted on or after the date of the enact23 ment of this Act. 


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1 TITLE II—PRACTICES OF 

2 REGIONAL OFFICES 

3 SEC. 201. REQUIRED COMPTROLLER GENERAL AUDIT OF 

4 REGIONAL OFFICES OF VETERANS BENEFITS 

5 ADMINISTRATION. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 

7 date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 

8 of the United States shall complete an audit of the re9 gional offices of the Veterans Benefits Administration— 

10 (1) to assess the consistency of decisions being 

11 made with respect to claims for benefits under laws 

12 administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; 

13 and 

14 (2) to identify ways in which the consistency of 

15 such decisions can be improved. 

16 (b) IDENTIFICATION OF FACTORS AND BEST PRAC17 TICES.—The audit conducted under subsection (a) shall 

18 include the following: 

19 (1) Identification of the factors, including man20 agement practices, that distinguish higher per21 forming regional offices from other regional offices. 

22 (2) Identification of best practices employed by 

23 higher performing regional offices that distinguish 

24 the performance of such offices from other regional 

25 offices. 


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1 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after the date 

2 on which the Comptroller General completes the audit re3 quired by subsection (a), the Comptroller General shall 

4 submit to Congress a report on the results of the audit. 

5 SEC. 202. STUDY ON SERVICE-CONNECTED DISABILITIES 

6 THAT WORSEN WITH AGE. 

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

8 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Vet9 erans Affairs shall complete a study on covered disabilities 

10 using historical data regarding service-connected disabil11 ities. 

12 (b) COVERED DISABILITIES.—For purposes of the 

13 study required by subsection (a), a covered disability is 

14 a service-connected disability that the Secretary deter15 mines is of a type or class of disability or condition that 

16 the Secretary determines is a type or class of disability 

17 or condition that, for individuals with such type or class 

18 of disability, the average impairment of earning capacity 

19 resulting from such disability or condition increases as the 

20 individual with such disability or condition ages. 

21 (c) MATTERS COVERED.—The study required by sub22 section (a) shall include the following: 

23 (1) Analysis of historical statistics and informa24 tion related to the progressive nature of covered disVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:22 Mar 11, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2091.IS S2091

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1 abilities, in terms of increased impairment of earn2 ing capacity caused by the disabilities. 

3 (2) Development of recommendations for legis4 lative and administrative action that use statistics 

5 and information described in paragraph (1) to adju6 dicate more quickly claims for increased disability 

7 compensation and disability compensation claims of 

8 veterans who had specific military occupation spe9 cialties when serving in the Armed Forces. 

10 (d) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

11 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit 

12 to Congress a report on the study required by subsection 

13 (a), including the findings of the Secretary with respect 

14 to such study. 

15 (e) PUBLIC COMMENT.—The Secretary shall— 

16 (1) make the report submitted under paragraph 

17 (1) available to the public; and 

18 (2) seek comments from the public, including 

19 from veterans service organizations, veterans, and 

20 medical professionals, on the recommendations de21 veloped under subsection (c)(2). 

22 (f) PROPOSAL.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

24 after submitting the report under subsection (d), the 

25 Secretary shall develop and submit to Congress a 


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1 proposal for conduct of a pilot program to assess the 

2 feasibility and advisability of carrying out the rec3 ommendations developed under subsection (c)(2). 

4 (2) INPUT.—In developing the proposal re5 quired by paragraph (1), the Secretary shall con6 sider the comments received under subsection (e)(2). 

7 (3) LIMITATION.—The Secretary may not con8 duct the pilot program proposed under paragraph 

9 (1) or any portion of such proposal except pursuant 

10 to provisions of law enacted after the date of the re11 ceipt by Congress of such proposal. 

12 (g) VETERANS SERVICE ORGANIZATION DEFINED.— 

13 In this section, the term ‘‘veterans service organization’’ 

14 means an organization recognized by the Secretary for the 

15 representation of veterans under section 5902 of title 38, 

16 United States Code. 

17 SEC. 203. IMPROVEMENTS TO AUTHORITY FOR PERFORM18 ANCE OF MEDICAL DISABILITIES EXAMINA19 TIONS BY CONTRACT PHYSICIAN. 

20 (a) EXTENSION OF TEMPORARY AUTHORITY.—Sub21 section (c) of section 704 of the Veterans Benefits Act 

22 of 2003 (38 U.S.C. 5101 note) is amended by striking 

23 ‘‘December 31, 2014’’ and inserting ‘‘December 31, 

24 2016’’. 

25 (b) LICENSURE OF CONTRACT PHYSICIANS.— 


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1 (1) TEMPORARY AUTHORITY.—Such section 

2 704 is further amended— 

3 (A) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub4 section (e); and 

5 (B) by inserting after subsection (c) the 

6 following new subsection (d): 

7 ‘‘(d) LICENSURE OF CONTRACT PHYSICIANS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any law 

9 regarding the licensure of physicians, a physician de10 scribed in paragraph (2) may conduct an examina11 tion pursuant to a contract entered into under sub12 section (b) at any location in any State, the District 

13 of Columbia, or a Commonwealth, territory, or pos14 session of the United States, so long as the examina15 tion is within the scope of the authorized duties 

16 under such contract. 

17 ‘‘(2) PHYSICIAN DESCRIBED.—A physician de18 scribed in this paragraph is a physician who— 

19 ‘‘(A) has a current license to practice the 

20 health care profession of the physician; and 

21 ‘‘(B) is performing authorized duties for 

22 the Department of Veterans Affairs pursuant to 

23 a contract entered into under subsection (b).’’. 


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1 (2) PILOT PROGRAM.—Section 504 of the Vet2 erans’ Benefits Improvement Act of 1996 (38 

3 U.S.C. 5101 note) is amended— 

4 (A) by redesignating subsections (c) and 

5 (d) as subsections (d) and (e), respectively; and 

6 (B) by inserting after subsection (b) the 

7 following new subsection (c): 

8 ‘‘(c) LICENSURE OF CONTRACT PHYSICIANS.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any law 

10 regarding the licensure of physicians, a physician de11 scribed in paragraph (2) may conduct an examina12 tion pursuant to a contract entered into under sub13 section (a) at any location in any State, the District 

14 of Columbia, or a Commonwealth, territory, or pos15 session of the United States, so long as the examina16 tion is within the scope of the authorized duties 

17 under such contract. 

18 ‘‘(2) PHYSICIAN DESCRIBED.—A physician de19 scribed in this paragraph is a physician who— 

20 ‘‘(A) has a current license to practice the 

21 health care profession of the physician; and 

22 ‘‘(B) is performing authorized duties for 

23 the Department of Veterans Affairs pursuant to 

24 a contract entered into under subsection (a).’’. 


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1 (c) EXPANSION OF PILOT PROGRAM.—Subsection (b) 

2 of such section 504 is amended to read as follows: 

3 ‘‘(b) LOCATIONS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) NUMBER.—The Secretary may carry out 

5 the pilot program under this section through not 

6 more than 15 regional offices of the Department of 

7 Veterans Affairs. 

8 ‘‘(2) SELECTION.—The Secretary shall select 

9 the regional offices under paragraph (1) by ana10 lyzing appropriate data to determine the regional of11 fices that require support. Such appropriate data 

12 shall include— 

13 ‘‘(A) the number of backlogged claims; 

14 ‘‘(B) the total pending case workload; 

15 ‘‘(C) the length of time cases have been 

16 pending; 

17 ‘‘(D) the accuracy of completed cases; 

18 ‘‘(E) the overall timeliness of completed 

19 cases; 

20 ‘‘(F) the availability and workload of the 

21 examination units and physicians of the medical 

22 centers in the regional office; and 

23 ‘‘(G) any other data the Secretary deter24 mines appropriate. 


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1 ‘‘(3) ANNUAL ANALYSIS.—The Secretary shall 

2 carry out the data analysis of the regional offices 

3 under paragraph (2) during each year in which the 

4 program under this section is carried out to deter5 mine the regional offices selected under paragraph 

6 (1) for such year.’’. 

7 SEC. 204. IMPROVEMENT OF MAIL PROCESSING BY DE8 PARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 

9 Not later than the date that is one year after the 

10 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Vet11 erans Affairs shall develop and implement a plan to estab12 lish a uniform mail processing and scanning system 

13 throughout the regional offices of the Veterans Benefits 

14 Administration. 

15 SEC. 205. REVIEW OF PRACTICES OF REGIONAL OFFICES 

16 REGARDING USE OF SUSPENSE DATES. 

17 (a) REVIEW REQUIRED.—Not later than 180 days 

18 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Inspector 

19 General of the Department of Veterans Affairs shall con20 duct a review of the practices of regional offices of the 

21 Department regarding the use of suspense dates during 

22 the disability claim assessment process. 

23 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 270 days after the date 

24 of the enactment of this Act, the Inspector General of the 

25 Department shall submit to Congress a report on the findVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:22 Mar 11, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2091.IS S2091

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1 ings of the Inspector General with respect to the review 

2 conducted under subsection (a). 

3 SEC. 206. SEMIANNUAL REPORTS ON PROGRESS IN IMPLE4 MENTING VETERANS BENEFITS MANAGE5 MENT SYSTEM. 

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

7 date of the enactment of this Act and not less frequently 

8 than once every 180 days thereafter until the Inspector 

9 General of the Department of Veterans Affairs certifies 

10 to Congress that the Veterans Benefits Management Sys11 tem is implemented and fully functional, the Secretary of 

12 Veterans Affairs shall submit to Congress a report on the 

13 progress of the Secretary in implementing the Veterans 

14 Benefits Management System. 

15 (b) CONTENTS.—The report required by subsection 

16 (a) shall include the following: 

17 (1) An assessment of the current functionality 

18 of the Veterans Benefits Management System, in19 cluding whether each component of the system is 

20 fully functional, partially functional, or not func21 tional. 

22 (2) For each component of the system that is 

23 partially functional or not functional, an estimate of 

24 the date by which the Secretary expects the compo25 nent to be fully functional. 


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1 (3) Recommendations submitted to the Sec2 retary by employees of the Department of Veterans 

3 Affairs who are involved in processing claims for 

4 benefits under laws administered by the Secretary, 

5 including veteran service representatives, rating vet6 eran service representatives, and decision review offi7 cers, for such legislative or administrative action as 

8 the employees consider appropriate to improve the 

9 processing of such claims. 

10 SEC. 207. ANNUAL REPORT ON CAPACITY OF VETERANS 

11 BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION TO PROCESS 

12 BENEFITS CLAIMS. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 

14 date of the enactment of this Act and not less frequently 

15 than once each year thereafter, the Secretary of Veterans 

16 Affairs shall submit to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

17 of the Senate and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of 

18 the House of Representatives a report on the capacity of 

19 the Veterans Benefits Administration to process claims for 

20 benefits under laws administered by the Secretary during 

21 the next one-year period. 

22 (b) CONTENTS.—Each report submitted under sub23 section (a) shall include, for the period covered by the re24 port, the following: 


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1 (1) The number of claims for benefits under 

2 laws administered by the Secretary that the Sec3 retary expects the Veterans Benefits Administration 

4 to process. 

5 (2) The number of full-time equivalent employ6 ees of the Veterans Benefits Administration who are 

7 dedicated to processing such claims. 

8 (3) An estimate of the number of such claims 

9 a single full-time equivalent employee of the Admin10 istration can process in a year. 

11 (4) An assessment of whether the Administra12 tion requires additional or fewer full-time equivalent 

13 employees to process such claims during the next 1- 

14 year, 5-year, and 10-year periods. 

15 (c) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Secretary shall 

16 make the report required by subsection (a) available to 

17 the public on an Internet website of the Department of 

18 Veterans Affairs. 

19 SEC. 208. INCREASED TRANSPARENCY IN MONDAY MORN20 ING WORKLOAD REPORT. 

21 (a) DISAGGREGATION OF CLAIMS BY DECISIONS RE22 QUIRING DISABILITY RATING.—The Secretary of Vet23 erans Affairs shall include in each Monday Morning Work24 load Report published by the Secretary the number of 

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1 retary that have been received by a regional office of the 

2 Department of Veterans Affairs and are pending a deci3 sion, disaggregated by— 

4 (1) whether the claim has been pending for 

5 more than 125 days; and 

6 (2) whether the claim requires a decision con7 cerning a disability rating. 

8 (b) INCLUSION OF INFORMATION ON ASSIGNMENT OF

9 PARTIAL RATINGS.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

10 shall include in each Monday Morning Workload Report 

11 published by the Secretary in the portion of the report 

12 entitled ‘‘Transformation’’ and in the portion of the report 

13 entitled ‘‘Aggregate’’ the number of partial ratings as14 signed. 

15 (c) REPORT ON FULLY DEVELOPED CLAIMS.—The 

16 Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall include in each Monday 

17 Morning Workload Report published by the Secretary the 

18 following: 

19 (1) The total number of fully developed claims 

20 for benefits under laws administered by the Sec21 retary that— 

22 (A) have been received by a regional office 

23 of the Department of Veterans Affairs; and 

24 (B) are pending a decision. 


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1 (2) The total number of such claims that have 

2 been pending for more than 125 days, disaggregated 

3 by station. 

4 SEC. 209. REPORTS ON APPEALS OF DECISIONS ON BENE5 FITS CLAIMS. 

6 (a) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Secretary of Vet7 erans Affairs shall make the reports of the Department 

8 of Veterans Affairs entitled ‘‘Appeals Pending’’ and ‘‘Ap9 peals Workload By Station’’ available to the public on an 

10 Internet website of the Department. 

11 (b) APPEALS GRANTED BY STATION.—The Secretary 

12 shall include in one of the reports described in subsection 

13 (a) the percentage of appeals granted by station. 

14 TITLE III—GOVERNMENT 

15 RESPONSE 

16 SEC. 301. INCREASED COOPERATION ACROSS GOVERN17 MENT. 

18 (a) APPOINTMENT OF LIAISONS.— 

19 (1) DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE.—The Sec20 retary of Defense shall appoint individuals as fol21 lows: 

22 (A) At least one individual to act as a liai23 son under this section between the Department 

24 of Defense and the Department of Veterans Af25 fairs. 


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1 (B) At least one individual for each of the 

2 reserve components of the Armed Forces to act 

3 as a liaison under this section between the re4 spective component of the Armed Forces and 

5 the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

6 (2) SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION.—The 

7 Commissioner of Social Security shall appoint at 

8 least one individual to act as a liaison under this 

9 section between the Social Security Administration 

10 and the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

11 (3) NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMIN12 ISTRATION.—The Archivist of the United States 

13 shall appoint at least one individual to act as a liai14 son under this section between the Social Security 

15 Administration and the Department of Veterans Af16 fairs. 

17 (b) DUTIES OF LIAISONS.—Each individual acting as 

18 a liaison under this section shall expedite the timely provi19 sion to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs of such informa20 tion as the Secretary requires to process claims submitted 

21 to the Secretary for benefits under laws administered by 

22 the Secretary. 

23 (c) PROCEDURES.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans 

25 Affairs, the Secretary of Defense, the Commissioner 


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1 of Social Security, and the Archivist of the United 

2 States shall jointly develop and implement proce3 dures to improve the timely provision to the Sec4 retary of Veterans Affairs of such information as the 

5 Secretary requires to process claims submitted to the 

6 Secretary for benefits under laws administered by 

7 the Secretary. 

8 (2) TIMELY PROVISION.—The procedures devel9 oped and implemented under paragraph (1) shall en10 sure that the information provided to the Secretary 

11 of Veterans Affairs is provided to the Secretary not 

12 later than 30 days after the date on which the Sec13 retary requests the information. 

14 (d) ANNUAL REPORTS.—Not less frequently than 

15 once each year, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall 

16 submit to Congress a report on— 

17 (1) the requests for information made by the 

18 Secretary during the most recent one-year period for 

19 information from the Secretary of Defense, the Com20 missioner of Social Security, and the Archivist of the 

21 United States required by the Secretary of Veterans 

22 Affairs to process claims submitted to the Secretary 

23 for benefits under laws administered by the Sec24 retary; and 

25 (2) the timeliness of responses to such requests. 


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1 SEC. 302. REPORT ON INTEROPERABILITY BETWEEN ELEC2 TRONIC HEALTH RECORDS SYSTEMS OF DE3 PARTMENT OF DEFENSE AND DEPARTMENT 

4 OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 

5 Not later than one year after the date of the enact6 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense and the Sec7 retary of Veterans Affairs shall jointly submit to Congress 

8 a report that sets forth a timeline with milestones for 

9 achieving interoperability between the electronic health 

10 records systems of the Department of Defense and the De11 partment of Veterans Affairs. 

Æ 


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