IB 
Union Calendar No. 82 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1725 
[Report No. 115–133] 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the treatment of medical 
evidence provided by non-Department of Veterans Affairs medical profes-
sionals in support of claims for disability compensation under the laws 
administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and for other pur-
poses. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 24, 2017 
Mr. WALZ (for himself, Mr. DENHAM, Mr. LANGEVIN, Ms. MCSALLY, Mr. 
JOHNSON of Ohio, Mr. COSTELLO of Pennsylvania, and Ms. KUSTER of 
New Hampshire) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
MAY 19, 2017 
Additional sponsors: Mr. HIGGINS of New York and Ms. SHEA-PORTER 
MAY 19, 2017 
Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee of the Whole House 
on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March 24, 2017] 
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A BILL 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the 
treatment of medical evidence provided by non-Depart-
ment of Veterans Affairs medical professionals in support 
of claims for disability compensation under the laws ad-
ministered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and 
for other purposes. 
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. REPORT ON PROGRESS OF DEPARTMENT OF 
VETERANS AFFAIRS ACCEPTABLE CLINICAL 
EVIDENCE INITIATIVE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit 
to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and 
the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Rep-
resentatives a report on the progress of the Acceptable Clin-
ical Evidence initiative of the Department of Veterans Af-
fairs in reducing the necessity for in-person disability ex-
aminations and other efforts to comply with the provisions 
of section 5125 of title 38, United States Code. 
(b) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—The report required by 
subsection (a) shall include the following: 
(1) The number of claims eligible for the Accept-
able Clinical Evidence initiative during the period 
beginning on the date of the commencement of the ini-
tiative and ending on the date of the submittal of the 
report, disaggregated by fiscal year. 
(2) The total number of claims eligible for the 
Acceptable Clinical Evidence initiative that required 
a medical examiner of the Department to supplement 
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the evidence with information obtained during a tele-
phone interview with a claimant. 
(3) Information on any other initiatives or ef-
forts of the Department to further encourage the use 
of private medical evidence and reliance upon reports 
of a medical examination administered by a private 
physician if the report is sufficiently complete to be 
adequate for the purposes of adjudicating a claim. 
(4) The anticipated impact on the timeline and 
accuracy of a decision on a claim for benefits under 
chapter 11 or 15 of title 38, United States Code, if 
the Secretary were prohibited from requesting a med-
ical examination in the case of a claim in support of 
which a claimant submits medical evidence and a 
medical opinion provided by a private physician that 
is competent, credible, probative, and otherwise ade-
quate for the purpose of making a decision on that 
claim. 
(5) Recommendations on how the Department 
can measure, track, and prevent the ordering of un-
necessary medical examinations when the provision 
by a claimant of a medical examination administered 
by a private physician in support of a claim for bene-
fits under chapter 11 or 15 of title 38, United States 
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Code, is adequate for the purpose of making a deci-
sion on that claim. 
SEC. 2. ANNUAL REPORT ON SUBMITTAL OF PRIVATE MED-
ICAL EVIDENCE IN SUPPORT OF CLAIMS FOR 
DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS BENE-
FITS. 
Not later than March 1 of fiscal years 2018 through 
2024, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to Con-
gress a report that includes, for the calendar year preceding 
the year in which the report is submitted, the following for 
each regional office of the Department of Veterans Affairs: 
(1) The number of times a veteran who sub-
mitted private medical evidence in support of a claim 
for compensation or pension under the laws adminis-
tered by the Secretary was scheduled for an examina-
tion performed by Department personnel because the 
private medical evidence submitted was determined to 
be unacceptable. 
(2) The most common reasons why private med-
ical evidence submitted in support of claims for bene-
fits under the laws administered by the Secretary was 
determined to be unacceptable. 
(3) The types of disabilities for which claims for 
benefits under the laws administered by the Secretary 
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were mostly commonly denied when private medical 
evidence was submitted. 
Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill to direct the 
Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit certain reports 
relating to medical evidence submitted in support of 
claims for benefits under the laws administered by the 
Secretary.’’. 
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Union Calendar No. 82 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 1725 
[Report No. 115–133] 
A BILL 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve 
the treatment of medical evidence provided by 
non-Department of Veterans Affairs medical pro-
fessionals in support of claims for disability com-
pensation under the laws administered by the 
Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and for other pur-
poses. 
MAY 19, 2017 
Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee 
of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and or-
dered to be printed 
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