Title II — S. 2091 (Introduced in Senate)

Sec. 201 Required Comptroller General audit of regional offices of Veterans Benefits Administration

(a)

In general— Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall complete an audit of the regional offices of the Veterans Benefits Administration—

(1)

to assess the consistency of decisions being made with respect to claims for benefits under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; and

(2)

to identify ways in which the consistency of such decisions can be improved.

(b)

Identification of factors and best practices— The audit conducted under subsection (a) shall include the following:

(1)

Identification of the factors, including management practices, that distinguish higher performing regional offices from other regional offices.

(2)

Identification of best practices employed by higher performing regional offices that distinguish the performance of such offices from other regional offices.

(c)

Report— Not later than 90 days after the date on which the Comptroller General completes the audit required by subsection (a), the Comptroller General shall submit to Congress a report on the results of the audit.

Sec. 202 Study on service-connected disabilities that worsen with age

(a)

In general— Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall complete a study on covered disabilities using historical data regarding service-connected disabilities.

(b)

Covered disabilities— For purposes of the study required by subsection (a), a covered disability is a service-connected disability that the Secretary determines is of a type or class of disability or condition that the Secretary determines is a type or class of disability or condition that, for individuals with such type or class of disability, the average impairment of earning capacity resulting from such disability or condition increases as the individual with such disability or condition ages.

(c)

Matters covered— The study required by subsection (a) shall include the following:

(1)

Analysis of historical statistics and information related to the progressive nature of covered disabilities, in terms of increased impairment of earning capacity caused by the disabilities.

(2)

Development of recommendations for legislative and administrative action that use statistics and information described in paragraph (1) to adjudicate more quickly claims for increased disability compensation and disability compensation claims of veterans who had specific military occupation specialties when serving in the Armed Forces.

(d)

Report— Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on the study required by subsection (a), including the findings of the Secretary with respect to such study.

(e)

Public comment— The Secretary shall—

(1)

make the report submitted under paragraph (1) available to the public; and

(2)

seek comments from the public, including from veterans service organizations, veterans, and medical professionals, on the recommendations developed under subsection (c)(2).

(f)

Proposal—

(1)

In general— Not later than 180 days after submitting the report under subsection (d), the Secretary shall develop and submit to Congress a proposal for conduct of a pilot program to assess the feasibility and advisability of carrying out the recommendations developed under subsection (c)(2).

(2)

Input— In developing the proposal required by paragraph (1), the Secretary shall consider the comments received under subsection (e)(2).

(3)

Limitation— The Secretary may not conduct the pilot program proposed under paragraph (1) or any portion of such proposal except pursuant to provisions of law enacted after the date of the receipt by Congress of such proposal.

(g)

Veterans service organization defined— In this section, the term veterans service organization means an organization recognized by the Secretary for the representation of veterans under section 5902 of title 38, United States Code.

Sec. 203 Improvements to authority for performance of medical disabilities examinations by contract physician

(a)

Extension of temporary authority— Subsection (c) of section 704 of the Veterans Benefits Act of 2003 (38 U.S.C. 5101 note) is amended by striking “December 31, 2014” and inserting “December 31, 2016”.

(b)

Licensure of contract physicians—

(1)

Temporary authority— Such section 704 is further amended—

(A)

by redesignating subsection (d) as subsection (e); and

(B)

by inserting after subsection (c) the following new subsection (d):

“(d) Licensure of contract physicians

“(1) In general—Notwithstanding any law regarding the licensure of physicians, a physician described in paragraph (2) may conduct an examination pursuant to a contract entered into under subsection (b) 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 within the scope of the authorized duties under such contract.

“(2) Physician described—A physician described in this paragraph is a physician who—

“(A) has a current license to practice the health care profession of the physician; and

“(B) is performing authorized duties for the Department of Veterans Affairs pursuant to a contract entered into under subsection (b).”

(2)

Pilot program— Section 504 of the Veterans’ Benefits Improvement Act of 1996 (38 U.S.C. 5101 note) is amended—

(A)

by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as subsections (d) and (e), respectively; and

(B)

by inserting after subsection (b) the following new subsection (c):

“(c) Licensure of contract physicians

“(1) In general—Notwithstanding any law regarding the licensure of physicians, a physician described in paragraph (2) may conduct an examination pursuant to a contract entered into under subsection (a) 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 within the scope of the authorized duties under such contract.

“(2) Physician described—A physician described in this paragraph is a physician who—

“(A) has a current license to practice the health care profession of the physician; and

“(B) is performing authorized duties for the Department of Veterans Affairs pursuant to a contract entered into under subsection (a).”

(c)

Expansion of pilot program— Subsection (b) of such section 504 is amended to read as follows:

“(b) Locations

“(1) Number—The Secretary may carry out the pilot program under this section through not more than 15 regional offices of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

“(2) Selection—The Secretary shall select the regional offices under paragraph (1) by analyzing appropriate data to determine the regional offices that require support. Such appropriate data shall include—

“(A) the number of backlogged claims;

“(B) the total pending case workload;

“(C) the length of time cases have been pending;

“(D) the accuracy of completed cases;

“(E) the overall timeliness of completed cases;

“(F) the availability and workload of the examination units and physicians of the medical centers in the regional office; and

“(G) any other data the Secretary determines appropriate.

“(3) Annual analysis—The Secretary shall carry out the data analysis of the regional offices under paragraph (2) during each year in which the program under this section is carried out to determine the regional offices selected under paragraph (1) for such year.”

Sec. 204 Improvement of mail processing by Department of Veterans Affairs

Not later than the date that is one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall develop and implement a plan to establish a uniform mail processing and scanning system throughout the regional offices of the Veterans Benefits Administration.

Sec. 205 Review of practices of regional offices regarding use of suspense dates

(a)

Review required— Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Inspector General of the Department of Veterans Affairs shall conduct a review of the practices of regional offices of the Department regarding the use of suspense dates during the disability claim assessment process.

(b)

Report— Not later than 270 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Inspector General of the Department shall submit to Congress a report on the findings of the Inspector General with respect to the review conducted under subsection (a).

Sec. 206 Semiannual reports on progress in implementing Veterans Benefits Management System

(a)

In general— Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act and not less frequently than once every 180 days thereafter until the Inspector General of the Department of Veterans Affairs certifies to Congress that the Veterans Benefits Management System is implemented and fully functional, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to Congress a report on the progress of the Secretary in implementing the Veterans Benefits Management System.

(b)

Contents— The report required by subsection (a) shall include the following:

(1)

An assessment of the current functionality of the Veterans Benefits Management System, including whether each component of the system is fully functional, partially functional, or not functional.

(2)

For each component of the system that is partially functional or not functional, an estimate of the date by which the Secretary expects the component to be fully functional.

(3)

Recommendations submitted to the Secretary by employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs who are involved in processing claims for benefits under laws administered by the Secretary, including veteran service representatives, rating veteran service representatives, and decision review officers, for such legislative or administrative action as the employees consider appropriate to improve the processing of such claims.

Sec. 207 Annual report on capacity of Veterans Benefits Administration to process benefits claims

(a)

In general— Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act and not less frequently than once each year thereafter, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives a report on the capacity of the Veterans Benefits Administration to process claims for benefits under laws administered by the Secretary during the next one-year period.

(b)

Contents— Each report submitted under subsection (a) shall include, for the period covered by the report, the following:

(1)

The number of claims for benefits under laws administered by the Secretary that the Secretary expects the Veterans Benefits Administration to process.

(2)

The number of full-time equivalent employees of the Veterans Benefits Administration who are dedicated to processing such claims.

(3)

An estimate of the number of such claims a single full-time equivalent employee of the Administration can process in a year.

(4)

An assessment of whether the Administration requires additional or fewer full-time equivalent employees to process such claims during the next 1-year, 5-year, and 10-year periods.

(c)

Public availability— The Secretary shall make the report required by subsection (a) available to the public on an Internet website of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Sec. 208 Increased transparency in Monday Morning Workload Report

(a)

Disaggregation of claims by decisions requiring disability rating— The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall include in each Monday Morning Workload Report published by the Secretary the number of claims for benefits under laws administered by the Secretary that have been received by a regional office of the Department of Veterans Affairs and are pending a decision, disaggregated by—

(1)

whether the claim has been pending for more than 125 days; and

(2)

whether the claim requires a decision concerning a disability rating.

(b)

Inclusion of information on assignment of partial ratings— The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall include in each Monday Morning Workload Report published by the Secretary in the portion of the report entitled “Transformation” and in the portion of the report entitled “Aggregate” the number of partial ratings assigned.

(c)

Report on fully developed claims— The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall include in each Monday Morning Workload Report published by the Secretary the following:

(1)

The total number of fully developed claims for benefits under laws administered by the Secretary that—

(A)

have been received by a regional office of the Department of Veterans Affairs; and

(B)

are pending a decision.

(2)

The total number of such claims that have been pending for more than 125 days, disaggregated by station.

Sec. 209 Reports on appeals of decisions on benefits claims

(a)

Public availability— The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall make the reports of the Department of Veterans Affairs entitled “Appeals Pending” and “Appeals Workload By Station” available to the public on an Internet website of the Department.

(b)

Appeals granted by station— The Secretary shall include in one of the reports described in subsection (a) the percentage of appeals granted by station.

Title II — Practices of regional offices

II Practices of regional offices