Title: Ensuring Veterans' Smooth Transition Act
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security

Summary:
Ensuring Veterans' Smooth Transition Act or the EVEST Act
This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to automatically enroll veterans who are eligible for VA health care into the VA health care system upon the receipt of information from the Defense Manpower Data Center of the Department of Defense that proves eligibility of such veterans for enrollment.
Any veteran who is eligible for automatic enrollment must be able to access an electronic version of the certificate of eligibility and an electronic mechanism to opt out of such enrollment.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4673 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4673

  To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the automatic 
    enrollment of eligible veterans in patient enrollment system of 
        Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 22, 2021

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the automatic 
    enrollment of eligible veterans in patient enrollment system of 
        Department of Veterans Affairs, 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 ``Ensuring Veterans' Smooth Transition 
Act'' or the ``EVEST Act''.

SEC. 2. AUTOMATIC ENROLLMENT OF ELIGIBLE VETERANS IN PATIENT ENROLLMENT 
              SYSTEM OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.

    (a) In General.--Section 1705 of title 38, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(d)(1) The Secretary shall enroll each veteran described in 
subsection (a) in the patient enrollment system under this section by 
not later than 60 days after receiving the information described in 
paragraph (3) with respect to the veteran.
    ``(2) Not later than 60 days after enrolling a veteran under 
paragraph (1), the Secretary shall provide to the veteran--
            ``(A) notice of the veteran's enrollment; and
            ``(B) instructions for how the veteran may opt out of such 
        enrollment, at the election of the veteran.
    ``(3) The information described in this paragraph is the 
appropriate information concerning eligibility for enrollment in the 
patient enrollment system under this section, as provided by the 
Defense Manpower Data Center of the Department of Defense, or such 
successor entity of the Department.''.
    (b) Applicability.--Subsection (d) of section 1705 of title 38, 
United States Code, as added by subsection (a), shall apply to a 
veteran with respect to whom the Secretary receives the information 
described in paragraph (3) of such subsection on or after the date of 
the enactment of this Act.
    (c) Electronic Certificates of Eligibility for Department of 
Veterans Affairs Patient Enrollment System.--Not later than August 1, 
2022, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall ensure that any veteran 
who is eligible for automatic enrollment in the patient enrollment 
system under subsection (d) of section 1705 of title 38, United States 
Code, as added by subsection (a), is able to access--
            (1) an electronic version of the certificate of eligibility 
        showing the veteran's eligibility for such enrollment; and
            (2) an electronic mechanism by which the veteran may opt 
        out of such enrollment.
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