Title V — Departmental Administration

115th Congress · Approved Dec 31, 2018 · 132 Stat. 5368

TITLE V Departmental Administration

SEC. 501. Misuse of Department of Veterans Affairs Purchase Cards by Department Employees.

(a)

In General.— Subchapter I of chapter 7 of title 38, United States Code, is further amended by adding at the end the following new section:

“§ 728. Misuse of Department purchase cards

“(a) In General.—

(1) The Secretary shall prohibit any employee of the Department who the Secretary or the Inspector General of the Department determines has knowingly misused a purchase card from serving as a purchase card holder or approving official.

“(2) Such a prohibition shall be in addition to any other applicable penalty.

“(b) Misuse.—For purposes of this section, the term ‘misuse’ means—

“(1) splitting purchases;

“(2) exceeding applicable purchase card limits or purchase thresholds;

“(3) purchasing any unauthorized item;

“(4) using a purchase card without being an authorized purchase card holder; or

“(5) violating ethics standards.”

(b)

Clerical Amendment.— The table of sections at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 728 the following new item:

“728. Misuse of Department purchase cards.”.

SEC. 502. Updating Dependent Information.

The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall make such changes to such information technology systems of the Department of Veterans Affairs, including the eBenefits system or successor system, as may be necessary so that whenever the Secretary records in such systems information about a dependent of a person, the person is able to review and revise such information.

SEC. 503. Oversight of Electronic Health Record Modernization Program.

(a)

Program Documents.— Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees the following documents concerning the Electronic Health Record Modernization Program:

(1)

Integrated Master Plan.

(2)

Integrated Master Schedule.

(3)

Program Management Plan.

(4)

Annual and lifecycle cost estimates, including, at a minimum, cost elements relating to—

(A)

Federal Government labor;

(B)

contractor labor;

(C)

hardware;

(D)

software; and

(E)

testing and evaluation.

(5)

Cost baseline.

(6)

Risk Management Plan.

(7)

Health IT Strategic Architecture Plan.

(8)

Transition Plan for implementing updated architecture.

(9)

Data Migration Plan.

(10)

System and Data Security Plan.

(11)

Application Implementation Plan.

(12)

System Design Documents.

(13)

Legacy Veterans Information Systems and Technology Architecture Standardization, Security Enhancement, and Consolidation Project Plan.

(14)

Health Data Interoperability Management Plan.

(15)

Community Care Vision and Implementation Plan, including milestones and a detailed description of how complete interoperability with non-Department health care providers will be achieved.

(b)

Quarterly Updates.— Not later than 30 days after the end of each fiscal quarter during the period beginning with the fiscal quarter in which this Act is enacted and ending on the date on which the Electronic Health Record Modernization Program is completed, the Secretary shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees the most recent updated versions, if any exist, of the following documents:

(1)

Integrated Master Schedule.

(2)

Program Management Plan, including any written Program Management Review material developed for the Program Management Plan during the fiscal quarter covered by the submission.

(3)

Each document described in subsection (a)(4).

(4)

Performance Baseline Report for the fiscal quarter covered by the submission or for the fiscal quarter ending the fiscal year prior to the submission.

(5)

Budget Reconciliation Report.

(6)

Risk Management Plan and Risk Register.

(c)

Contracts.— Not later than 5 days after awarding a contract, order, or agreement, including any modifications thereto, under the Electronic Health Record Modernization Program, the Secretary shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a copy of the entire such contract, order, agreement, or modification.

(d)

Notification.—

(1)

Requirement.— Not later than 10 days after an event described in paragraph (2) occurs, the Secretary shall notify the appropriate congressional committees of such occurrence, including a description of the event and an explanation for why such event occurred.

(2)

Event described.— An event described in this paragraph is any of the following events regarding the Electronic Health Record Modernization Program:

(A)

The delay of any milestone or deliverable by 30 or more days.

(B)

A request for equitable adjustment, equitable adjustment, or change order exceeding $1,000,000 (as such terms are defined in the Federal Acquisition Regulation).

(C)

The submission of any protest, claim, or dispute, and the resolution of any protest, claim, or dispute (as such terms are defined in the Federal Acquisition Regulation).

(D)

A loss of clinical or other data.

(E)

A breach of patient privacy, including any—

(i)

disclosure of protected health information that is not permitted under regulations promulgated under section 264(c) of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (Public Law 104–191; 42 U.S.C. 1320d–2 note); and

(ii)

breach of sensitive personal information (as defined in section 5727 of title 38, United States Code).

(e)

Definitions.— In this section:

(1)

The term “appropriate congressional committees” means—

(A)

the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Senate; and

(B)

the Committees on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Senate.

(2)

The term “Electronic Health Record Modernization Program” means—

(A)

any activities by the Department of Veterans Affairs to procure or implement an electronic health or medical record system to replace any or all of the Veterans Information Systems and Technology Architecture, the Computerized Patient Record System, the Joint Legacy Viewer, or the Enterprise Health Management Platform; and

(B)

any contracts or agreements entered into by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out, support, or analyze the activities under subparagraph (A).

SEC. 504. Department of Veterans Affairs Notice Relating to Debt Collection Activities.

(a)

Debt Notification Letter Formats.— The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall collaborate with veterans service organizations to develop a standard format for any letter provided to an individual who the Secretary determines is indebted to the United States by virtue of such individual’s participation in a benefits program administered by the Secretary. Such letter shall be written in plain language and shall include a notice of the debt and a clear explanation of—

(1)

why the individual is indebted to the United States by virtue of such person’s participation in a benefits program administered by the Secretary; and

(2)

the options available to the individual.

(b)

Delivery of Debt Notices by Standard Mail and Electronic Means.— The Secretary shall develop a method by which individuals may elect to receive notice of debt by electronic means and shall ensure, to the extent practicable, that the letter developed under subsection (a) is delivered—

(1)

by both standard mail and by electronic means to intended recipients who have made such an election; and

(2)

only by standard mail to intended recipients who have not made such an election.

(c)

Notice to Congress.—

(1)

Notices of completion.— Upon completion of the development of the standard letter format required under subsection (a) and upon completion of development of the method by which individuals may elect to receive notice of debt by electronic means under subsection (b), the Secretary shall submit to Congress notice of the completion of the respective development.

(2)

Progress reports.— If the Secretary has not submitted each notice required by paragraph (1) by the date that is 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall—

(A)

submit to Congress a report describing the progress of the Secretary toward implementing subsections (a) and (b) and an explanation for why the respective development has not been completed; and

(B)

every 30 days thereafter until all of the notices required by paragraph (1) have been submitted, submit to Congress an update to the report under subparagraph (A) that includes an additional explanation for the failure to complete the respective development.

(d)

Study and Report.—

(1)

Study.— The Secretary of Veterans Affairs, in coordination with the Secretary of the Treasury, shall conduct a study on the process by which individuals who are indebted to the United States by virtue of their participation in a benefits program administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs are notified of debt collection efforts relating to such indebtedness.

(2)

Elements.— The study required by paragraph (1) shall include the following:

(A)

An analysis of the scope of the problem of individuals who are indebted to the United States by virtue of their participation in a benefits program administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs not receiving debt collection notices relating to such indebtedness.

(B)

Identification of administrative actions the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Secretary of the Treasury can carry out to reduce the number of incorrect or unknown addresses of such individuals in the databases of the Department Veterans Affairs and the Department of the Treasury and a timeline for carrying out such actions.

(C)

An estimate of the costs associated with sending debt collection notices to such individuals by certified mail.

(D)

An analysis of whether, or to what extent, sending debt collection notices to such individuals by certified mail would address the problem analyzed under subparagraph (A).

(E)

An analysis of the requirements and resources that would be necessary for the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a method for the Secretary to display in one consolidated document the details regarding all of the debts of an individual to the United States by virtue of such individual’s participation in a benefits program administered by the Secretary.

(F)

An analysis of the extent to which such individuals are so indebted by reason of actions by the Secretary or by actions of the individual, including any trends relating to whether the actions of the individual may be by reason of error, misrepresentation, or fraud.

(3)

Report.— Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, in coordination with the Secretary of the Treasury, shall submit to Congress a report on the findings of the Secretaries with respect to the study conducted under paragraph (1).

Title V — Departmental Administration