Title: VA Beneficiary Travel Act of 2017
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security

Summary:
VA Beneficiary Travel Act of 2017
This bill amends the Veterans' Benefits Improvements Act of 1996 to provide that payments for travel and incidental expenses related to disability examinations by non-Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) physicians for veterans applying for VA benefits shall be made from amounts available to the VA for payment of compensation and pensions.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1564 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1564

To amend section 504 of the Veterans' Benefits Improvements Act of 1996 
  to specify the funding source for travel related to examinations by 
physicians not employed by the Department of Veterans Affairs regarding 
medical disabilities of applicants for benefits under title 38, United 
     States Code, to codify section 504 of the Veterans' Benefits 
           Improvements Act of 1996, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 16, 2017

 Mr. Bergman introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend section 504 of the Veterans' Benefits Improvements Act of 1996 
  to specify the funding source for travel related to examinations by 
physicians not employed by the Department of Veterans Affairs regarding 
medical disabilities of applicants for benefits under title 38, United 
     States Code, to codify section 504 of the Veterans' Benefits 
           Improvements Act of 1996, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``VA Beneficiary Travel Act of 2017''.

SEC. 2. SPECIFICATION OF FUNDING SOURCE; CODIFICATION OF SECTION 504 OF 
              THE VETERANS' BENEFITS IMPROVEMENTS ACT OF 1996.

    (a) Funding Clarification.--Section 504 of the Veterans' Benefits 
Improvements Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-275; 38 U.S.C. 5101 note) is 
amended, in subsection (d), by inserting ``and payments for related 
travel and incidental expenses under section 111 of title 38, United 
States Code,'' after ``under this section''.
    (b) Codification of Section 504 of the Veterans' Benefits 
Improvements Act of 1996.--
            (1) Codification.--Section 504 of the Veterans' Benefits 
        Improvements Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-275; 38 U.S.C. 5101 
        note), as amended by subsection (a), is--
                    (A) transferred to chapter 51 of title 38, United 
                States Code;
                    (B) inserted after section 5109B of such title; and
                    (C) redesignated as section 5109C of such title.
            (2) Clerical amendments.--
                    (A) Obsolete reporting provision.--Section 5109C of 
                title 38, United States Code, as added by subsection 
                (a), is amended by striking subsection (e).
                    (B) Table of sections.--The table of sections at 
                the beginning of chapter 51 of title 38, United States 
                Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating 
                to section 5109B the following new item:

``5109C. Pilot program for use of contract physicians for disability 
                            examinations.''.
                    (C) Section heading typeface and typestyle.--
                Section 5109C of title 38, United States Code, as added 
                by subsection (a), is amended--
                            (i) in the enumerator, by striking ``SEC.'' 
                        and inserting ``Sec. ''; and
                            (ii) in the section heading--
                                    (I) by striking the period at the 
                                end; and
                                    (II) by conforming the typeface and 
                                typestyle, including capitalization, to 
                                the typeface and typestyle as used in 
                                the section heading of section 1163 of 
                                such title.
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