A bill to improve authorities for performance of medical disabilities examinations by contract physicians for benefits under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.
Latest action · Nov 20, 2013 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedNov 20, 2013
- Passed SenateNot reached
- Passed HouseNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Amends the Veterans Benefits Act of 2003 to extend until December 31, 2016, the authority of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to provide for persons other than VA employees (i.e., contract physicians) to conduct medical disability examinations of applicants for benefits under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
Permits licensed, VA-contracted physicians to conduct such examinations at any location in any state, the District of Columbia, or a Commonwealth, territory, or possession of the United States, so long as the examination is authorized under the contract.
Amends the Veterans' Benefits Improvement Act of 1996 to provide similar authorities with respect to permissible examination locations to licensed physicians under the pilot program authorizing the VA to use contract physicians to perform medical disability examinations of applicants for benefits under laws carried out through the Under Secretary for Benefits. Expands from 10 to 15 the maximum number of VA regional offices through which the Secretary is authorized to carry out such pilot program. Sets forth criteria for the selection of such regional offices.
Directs the Secretary to conduct an annual data analysis (including an analysis of backlogged claims, pending workloads, and the timeliness of completed cases) to determine the regional offices requiring support.
Cosponsors
Members who signed on, in the order they did.
Actions 2
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Nov 20, 2013Introduced in Senate
- Nov 20, 2013Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
Related bills 3
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| S 2091 | 21st Century Veterans Benefits Delivery Act | Related bill | Mar 6, 2014 |
| HR 2189 | To improve the processing of disability claims by the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. | Related bill | Oct 29, 2013 |
| HR 2423 | Disabled Veterans' Access to Medical Exams Improvement Act | Related bill | Jul 17, 2013 |
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security.
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Nov 20, 2013Introduced in Senate
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov.