I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3320 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to authorize the Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs to enter into contracts with administrative contractors for the 
processing of claims for hospital care and medical services furnished 
in non-Department of Veterans Affairs facilities. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 29, 2015 
Mr. BOUSTANY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
A BILL 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to authorize the 
Secretary of Veterans Affairs to enter into contracts 
with administrative contractors for the processing of 
claims for hospital care and medical services furnished 
in non-Department of Veterans Affairs facilities. 
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 ‘‘Timely Payment for 
Veterans’ Medical Care Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS 
TO ENTER INTO CONTRACTS WITH ADMINIS-
TRATIVE CONTRACTORS FOR THE PROC-
ESSING OF CLAIMS FOR HOSPITAL CARE AND 
MEDICAL SERVICES FURNISHED IN NON-DE-
PARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS FACILI-
TIES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 17 of title 38, United 
States Code, is amended by inserting after section 1725 
the following new section: 
‘‘§ 1725A. Authority to enter into contracts with ad-
ministrative contractors 
‘‘(a) AUTHORITY.—(1) The Secretary may enter into 
contracts with any eligible entity to serve as an adminis-
trative contractor with respect to the performance of any 
or all of the functions described in paragraph (4) or parts 
of those functions (or, to the extent provided in a contract, 
to secure performance thereof by other entities). 
‘‘(2) An entity is eligible to enter into a contract with 
respect to the performance of a particular function de-
scribed in paragraph (4) only if— 
‘‘(A) the entity has demonstrated capability to 
carry out such function; 
‘‘(B) the entity complies with such conflict of 
interest standards as are generally applicable to 
Federal acquisition and procurement; 
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‘‘(C) the entity has sufficient assets to finan-
cially support the performance of such function; 
‘‘(D) the entity has the ability to accept and 
process electronic filings of medical records; and 
‘‘(E) the entity meets such other requirements 
as the Secretary may impose. 
‘‘(3)(A) For purposes of this section, the term ‘ad-
ministrative contractor’ means an agency, organization, or 
other person with a contract under this section. 
‘‘(B) With respect to the performance of a particular 
function in relation to an individual enrolled in the patient 
enrollment system under section 1705 of this title, the ‘ap-
propriate’ administrative contractor is the administrative 
contractor that has a contract under this section with re-
spect to the performance of that function in relation to 
that individual, or non-Department facility. 
‘‘(4) The functions referred to in this paragraph are 
the following functions relating to the furnishing of med-
ical care and hospital services in non-Department facilities 
under section 1725 or 1728 of this title: 
‘‘(A) Determining the amount of the payments 
required pursuant to this title to be made to a non- 
Department facility. 
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‘‘(B) Making payments described in subpara-
graph (A) (including receipt, disbursement, and ac-
counting for funds in making such payments). 
‘‘(C) Providing education and outreach to indi-
viduals enrolled in the patient enrollment system 
under section 1705 of this title and providing assist-
ance to those individuals with specific issues, con-
cerns, or problems. 
‘‘(D) Providing consultative services to institu-
tions, agencies, and other persons to enable them to 
establish and maintain fiscal records necessary for 
purposes of this title. 
‘‘(E) Communicating to non-Department facili-
ties any information or instructions furnished to the 
administrative contractor by the Secretary, and fa-
cilitating communication between such facilities and 
the Secretary. 
‘‘(F) Performing the functions relating to non- 
Department facility education, training, and tech-
nical assistance. 
‘‘(G) Performing such other functions as are 
necessary to carry out the purposes of this title. 
‘‘(5) Except to the extent inconsistent with a specific 
requirement of this section, the Federal Acquisition Regu-
lation applies to contracts under this section. 
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‘‘(b) CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS.—(1)(A) Except 
as provided in laws with general applicability to Federal 
acquisition and procurement or in subparagraph (B), the 
Secretary shall use competitive procedures when entering 
into contracts with administrative contractors under this 
section, taking into account performance quality as well 
as price and other factors. 
‘‘(B) The Secretary may renew a contract with an 
administrative contractor under this section from term to 
term without regard to section 5 of title 41, United States 
Code, or any other provision of law requiring competition, 
if the administrative contractor has met or exceeded the 
performance requirements applicable with respect to the 
contract and contractor, except that the Secretary shall 
provide for the application of competitive procedures 
under such a contract not less frequently than once every 
5 years. 
‘‘(C) The Secretary may transfer functions among 
administrative contractors consistent with the provisions 
of this paragraph. The Secretary shall ensure that per-
formance quality is considered in such transfers. The Sec-
retary shall provide public notice (whether in the Federal 
Register or otherwise) of any such transfer (including a 
description of the functions so transferred, a description 
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of the non-Department facilities affected by such transfer, 
and contact information for the contractors involved). 
‘‘(D) The Secretary shall provide incentives for ad-
ministrative contractors to provide quality service and to 
promote efficiency. 
‘‘(2) No contract under this section shall be entered 
into with any administrative contractor unless the Sec-
retary finds that such administrative contractor will per-
form its obligations under the contract efficiently and ef-
fectively and will meet such requirements as to financial 
responsibility, legal authority, quality of services provided, 
and other matters as the Secretary finds pertinent. 
‘‘(3)(A)(i) The Secretary shall develop contract per-
formance requirements to carry out the specific require-
ments applicable under this title to a function described 
in subsection (a)(4) and shall develop standards for meas-
uring the extent to which a contractor has met such re-
quirements. Such requirements shall include specific per-
formance duties expected of a medical director of an ad-
ministrative contractor, including requirements relating to 
professional relations and the availability of such director 
to conduct medical determination activities within the ju-
risdiction of such a contractor. 
‘‘(ii) In developing such performance requirements 
and standards for measurement, the Secretary shall con-
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sult with non-Department facilities, veterans service orga-
nizations, and organizations and agencies performing 
functions necessary to carry out the purposes of this sec-
tion with respect to such performance requirements. 
‘‘(iii) The Secretary shall make such performance re-
quirements and measurement standards available to the 
public. 
‘‘(B) The Secretary shall include, as one of the stand-
ards developed under subparagraph (A), non-Department 
facility and veteran satisfaction levels. 
‘‘(C) All contractor performance requirements shall 
be set forth in the contract between the Secretary and the 
appropriate administrative contractor. Such performance 
requirements— 
‘‘(i) shall reflect the performance requirements 
published under subparagraph (A), but may include 
additional performance requirements; 
‘‘(ii) shall be used for evaluating contractor per-
formance under the contract; and 
‘‘(iii) shall be consistent with the written state-
ment of work provided under the contract. 
‘‘(4) The Secretary shall not enter into a contract 
with an administrative contractor under this section unless 
the contractor agrees— 
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‘‘(A) to furnish to the Secretary such timely in-
formation and reports as the Secretary may find 
necessary in performing the functions of the Sec-
retary under this title; and 
‘‘(B) to maintain such records and afford such 
access thereto as the Secretary finds necessary to 
assure the correctness and verification of the infor-
mation and reports under subparagraph (A) and 
otherwise to carry out the purposes of this title. 
‘‘(5) A contract with an administrative contractor 
under this section may require the administrative con-
tractor, and any of its officers or employees certifying pay-
ments or disbursing funds pursuant to the contract, or 
otherwise participating in carrying out the contract, to 
give surety bond to the United States in such amount as 
the Secretary may deem appropriate. 
‘‘(c) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—A contract with any 
administrative contractor under this section may contain 
such terms and conditions as the Secretary finds necessary 
or appropriate and may provide for advances of funds to 
the administrative contractor for the making of payments 
by it under subsection (a)(4)(B). 
‘‘(d) LIMITATION ON LIABILITY OF ADMINISTRATIVE 
CONTRACTORS AND CERTAIN OFFICERS.—(1) No indi-
vidual designated pursuant to a contract under this sec-
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tion as a certifying officer shall, in the absence of the reck-
less disregard of the individual’s obligations or the intent 
by that individual to defraud the United States, be liable 
with respect to any payments certified by the individual 
under this section. 
‘‘(2) No disbursing officer shall, in the absence of the 
reckless disregard of the officer’s obligations or the intent 
by that officer to defraud the United States, be liable with 
respect to any payment by such officer under this section 
if it was based upon an authorization (which meets the 
applicable requirements for such internal controls estab-
lished by the Comptroller General of the United States) 
of a certifying officer designated as provided in paragraph 
(1) of this subsection. 
‘‘(3)(A) No administrative contractor shall be liable 
to the United States for a payment by a certifying or dis-
bursing officer unless, in connection with such payment, 
the administrative contractor acted with reckless disregard 
of its obligations under its administrative contract or with 
intent to defraud the United States. 
‘‘(B) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed 
to limit liability for conduct that would constitute a viola-
tion of sections 3729 through 3731 of title 31, United 
States Code. 
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