I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5245 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for a bar on the recovery 
of certain payments or overpayments made by the Department of Vet-
erans Affairs by reason of delays in processing of certain information, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 21, 2019 
Mr. PAPPAS (for himself and Mr. ROSE of New York) 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 a 
bar on the recovery of certain payments or overpayments 
made by the Department of Veterans Affairs by reason 
of delays in processing of certain information, and for 
other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stopping Harm and 
Implementing Enhanced Lead-time for Debts for Veterans 
Act’’ or the ‘‘SHIELD for Veterans Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. BAR TO RECOVERY OF CERTAIN PAYMENTS OR 
OVERPAYMENTS MADE BY DEPARTMENT OF 
VETERANS AFFAIRS BY REASON OF DELAYS 
IN PROCESSING OF CERTAIN INFORMATION. 
(a) BAR TO RECOVERY.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Chapter 53 of title 38, 
United States Code, is amended by inserting after 
section 5302A the following new section: 
‘‘§ 5302B. Bar to recovery of certain payments or 
overpayments 
‘‘(a) LIMITATION.—The Secretary may not collect all 
or any part of an amount owed to the United States by 
any individual under any program under the laws adminis-
tered by the Secretary if the amount is owed for any pay-
ment or overpayment that was caused by the amount of 
time taken by the Department, or by any employee of the 
Department, to process information provided by or on be-
half of the individual. 
‘‘(b) NOTICE TO BENEFICIARY.—If the Secretary de-
termines that the Secretary has made an overpayment to 
an individual, the Secretary shall provide notice to the in-
dividual of the overpayment and of any action the Sec-
retary plans to take to collect repayment for the overpay-
ment or to reduce any benefit of the individual by reason 
of the overpayment by not later than 90 days before tak-
ing such action. Such notice shall include an explanation 
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of the right of the individual to dispute the overpayment 
or to request a waiver of indebtedness.’’. 
(2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec-
tions at the beginning of such chapter is amended 
by inserting after the item relating to section 5302A 
the following new item: 
‘‘5302B. Bar to recovery of certain payments or overpayments.’’. 
(b) PLAN FOR IMPROVED NOTIFICATION AND COM-
MUNICATION OF DEBTS.—Not later than May 1, 2020, 
and 12 months thereafter, the Secretary of Veterans Af-
fairs shall submit to Congress a report on the improve-
ment of the notification of and communication with indi-
viduals who receive overpayments made by the Secretary. 
Such report shall include each of the following: 
(1) The plan of the Secretary to carry out each 
of the following: 
(A) The development and implementation, 
by not later than January 31, 2020, of a mech-
anism by which individuals enrolled in the pa-
tient enrollment system under section 1705 of 
title 38, United States Code, may view their 
monthly patient medical statements electroni-
cally. 
(B) The development and implementation, 
by not later than April 30, 2020, of a mecha-
nism by which individuals eligible for benefits 
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under the laws administered by the Secretary 
may receive electronic correspondence relating 
to debt and overpayment information. 
(C) The development and implementation, 
by not later than October 1, 2022, of a mecha-
nism by which individuals eligible for benefits 
under the laws administered by the Secretary 
may access information related to Department 
of Veterans Affairs debt electronically. 
(D) The improvement and clarification, by 
not later than March 31, 2020, and in consulta-
tion with veterans service organizations and 
other relevant non-governmental organizations, 
of Department communications relating to over-
payments and debt collection, including letters 
and electronic correspondence. 
(E) The development and implementation, 
by not later than October 1, 2022, of a mecha-
nism by which veterans may update their de-
pendency information electronically. 
(2) A description of the current efforts and 
plans for improving the accuracy of payments to in-
dividuals entitled to benefits under the laws adminis-
tered by the Secretary, including specific data 
matching agreements. 
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(3) A description of steps to be taken to im-
prove the identification of underpayments to such in-
dividuals and to improve Department procedures 
and policies to ensure that such individuals who are 
underpaid receive adequate compensation payments. 
(4) A list of actions completed, implementation 
steps, and timetables for each requirement described 
in paragraphs (1) through (3). 
(5) A description of any new legislative author-
ity required to complete any such requirement. 
SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AF-
FAIRS INTEREST AND ADMINISTRATIVE COST 
CHARGES FOR DEBTS RELATING TO CERTAIN 
BENEFITS PROGRAMS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 5315(a)(1) of title 38, 
United States Code, is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘other than a loan’’ and all that 
follows through the semicolon and inserting ‘‘other 
than—’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following new sub-
paragraphs: 
‘‘(A) a loan, loan-guaranty, or loan-insur-
ance program; 
‘‘(B) a disability compensation program; 
‘‘(C) a pension program; or 
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‘‘(D) an educational assistance program.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
subsection (a) shall apply with respect to an indebtedness 
that occurs on or after the date of the enactment of this 
Act. 
Æ 
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