115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1725 
AN ACT 
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. 
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 sub-
mit to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate 
and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of 
Representatives a report on the progress of the Acceptable 
Clinical Evidence initiative of the Department of Veterans 
Affairs in reducing the necessity for in-person disability 
examinations and other efforts to comply with the provi-
sions 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 Ac-
ceptable Clinical Evidence initiative during the pe-
riod beginning on the date of the commencement of 
the initiative and ending on the date of the sub-
mittal 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 supple-
ment the evidence with information obtained during 
a telephone 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 re-
ports of a medical examination administered by a 
private physician if the report is sufficiently com-
plete 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 
medical examination in the case of a claim in sup-
port of which a claimant submits medical evidence 
and a medical opinion provided by a private physi-
cian that is competent, credible, probative, and oth-
erwise adequate for the purpose of making a deci-
sion 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 ben-
efits under chapter 11 or 15 of title 38, United 
States Code, is adequate for the purpose of making 
a decision 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 
Congress a report that includes, for the calendar year pre-
ceding the year in which the report is submitted, the fol-
lowing for each regional office of the Department of Vet-
erans 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 exam-
ination performed by Department personnel because 
the private medical evidence submitted was deter-
mined to be unacceptable. 
(2) The most common reasons why private 
medical evidence submitted in support of claims for 
benefits under the laws administered by the Sec-
retary was determined to be unacceptable. 
(3) The types of disabilities for which claims for 
benefits under the laws administered by the Sec-