I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1862 
To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct outreach to veterans 
regarding the effect of delayed payments of claims for emergency medical 
care furnished by non-Department of Veterans Affairs medical providers 
by the Chief Business Office and to direct the Secretary to submit 
to Congress an annual report regarding such delayed payments. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 16, 2015 
Mr. BOUSTANY (for himself and Mr. ABRAHAM) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
A BILL 
To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct out-
reach to veterans regarding the effect of delayed pay-
ments of claims for emergency medical care furnished 
by non-Department of Veterans Affairs medical providers 
by the Chief Business Office and to direct the Secretary 
to submit to Congress an annual report regarding such 
delayed payments. 
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 ‘‘Veterans’ Credit Pro-
tection Act’’. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
03:47 Apr 25, 2015
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1862.IH
H1862
smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
SEC. 2. OUTREACH TO VETERANS REGARDING EFFECT OF 
CERTAIN DELAYED PAYMENTS BY DEPART-
MENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS CHIEF BUSI-
NESS OFFICE. 
(a) OUTREACH.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
shall conduct outreach, including through national and 
local veterans service organizations, to inform veterans of 
how to resolve credit issues caused by delayed payment 
of a claim for emergency hospital care, medical services, 
or other emergency health care furnished through a non- 
Department of Veterans Affairs provider. The Secretary 
shall establish a toll-free telephone number for veterans 
to report such credit issues to the Chief Business Office 
of the Department of Veterans Affairs. 
(b) ANNUAL REPORT.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs shall annually submit to Congress a report 
on the effectiveness of the Chief Business Office in 
providing timely payment of proper invoices for 
emergency hospital care, medical services, or other 
emergency health care furnished through non-De-
partment of Veterans Affairs providers by the re-
quired payment date during both the five-year period 
preceding the date of the report and the one-year pe-
riod preceding such date. For any part of the period 
covered by a report under this subsection that oc-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
03:47 Apr 25, 2015
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1862.IH
H1862
smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
curred before October 1, 2014, the report shall 
evaluate the provision of such payments by the Vet-
erans Integrated Service Networks. 
(2) MATTERS INCLUDED.—The reports under 
paragraph (1) shall include, for each period covered 
by the report, the following: 
(A) The number of veterans who contacted 
the Secretary regarding a delayed payment that 
negatively affected, or will potentially negatively 
affect, the credit of the veteran. 
(B) The total amount of interest penalties 
paid by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs under 
section 3902 of title 31, United States Code, by 
reason of a delayed payment. 
(C) The number of proper invoices sub-
mitted, listed in a table for each quarter and 
fiscal year of each such period that includes— 
(i) the total amount owed by the Sec-
retary under the proper invoices; 
(ii) the payment status of each proper 
invoice, as of the date of the report; and 
(iii) the period that elapsed until each 
proper invoice was paid, including an ex-
planation of any delayed payment. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
03:47 Apr 25, 2015
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1862.IH
H1862
smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
(D) Any comments regarding delayed pay-
ments made by medical providers. 
(E) A description of the best practices that 
the Chief Business Office can carry out to pro-
vide timely payment of a proper invoice, includ-
ing a plan to improve such timely payments. 
(c) QUARTERLY REPORTS ON PENDING CLAIMS.— 
The Chief Business Office of the Department of Veterans 
Affairs shall submit to Congress quarterly reports on the 
number of pending claims for reimbursement for emer-
gency hospital care, medical services, and other emergency 
health care furnished through non-Department of Vet-
erans Affairs providers. Each such report shall include 
each of the following: 
(1) The total number of such pending claims 
for each hospital system of the Department, as of 
the last day of the quarter covered by the report. 
(2) The total number of veterans who sub-
mitted such a pending claim in each State, as of 
such day. 
(3) The aggregate amount of all such pending 
claims in each State, as of such day. 
(4) As of such day— 
(A) the number of such pending claims 
that have been pending for 30 days or longer; 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
03:47 Apr 25, 2015
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1862.IH
H1862
smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS