,i  #aacth ,,congress  #ast ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #bjhh  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,may #bb1 #bjac ,mr4 
,michaud 7for himself1 ,mr4 ,mc,intyre1 
,ms4 ,kuster1 ,ms4 ,brownley of         
,california1 ,mrs4 ,mc,carthy of ,new   
,york1 ,ms4 ,frankel of ,florida1 ,ms4  
,lee of ,california1 ,mr4 ,heck of      
,nevada1 ,ms4 ,brown of ,florida1 ,mrs4 
,bustos1 ,mr4 ,bishop of ,new ,york1 and
 ,mr4 ,kilmer7 introduced the following 
bill2 which was referred to the         
,committee on ,veterans' ,affairs  ,a   
,,bill  ,to direct the ,secretary of    
,veterans ,affairs to carry out a pilot 
program to establish claims adjudication
 centers of excellence4  #a4 ,department
 of ,veterans ,affairs pilot program on 
claims adjudication centers of          
excellence  7a7 ,pilot program ,the     
,secretary shall carry out a three-year 
pilot program under which the ,secretary
 shall establish in the ,department of  
,veterans ,affairs #ab claims           
adjudication centers of excellence in   

accordance with this section4  7b7      
,selection of locations ,the ,secretary 
shall select the three highest          
performing regional offices in each of  
the four areas of the ,veterans         
,benefits ,administration as the        
locations of the centers of excellence4 
,to determine which of the regional     
offices are the three highest           
performing1 the ,secretary shall        
evaluate the quality and accuracy       
ratings of each of the regional offices 
and the average number of days a claim  
submitted to each of the regional       
offices is pending4  7c7 ,focus of      
centers  7#a7 ,selection of medical     
conditions ,each center of excellence   
established under this section shall    
focus on adjudicating claims relating to
 one medical condition selected by the  
,secretary4 ,the ,secretary shall select
 medical conditions for such purpose    
that are among the most complex and time
 consuming1 for purposes of             
adjudication1 and that occur commonly   

enough to support the work of the       
centers4  7#b7 ,adjudication of other   
claims ,if no claims relating to the    
medical condition which is the focus of 
a center are pending adjudication1      
employees of the center shall adjudicate
 claims relating to other medical       
conditions4  7d7 ,employees  7#a7       
,employee training ,each employee of a  
center of excellence established under  
this section shall--  7,a7 receive      
specific training related to the medical
 condition on which the center where the
 employee is employed is focused2  7,b7 
be required to pass an examination      
designed to certify the employee's      
ability to adjudicate claims relating to
 such medical condition to a high       
performing standard2 and  7,c7 work     
primarily1 to the extent practicable1   
adjudicating claims for which the       
employee has received specialized       
training4  7#b7 ,employment at more than
 one center  7,a7 ,concurrent employment
 ,no employee may be employed           

concurrently at more than one center    
established under this section4  7,b7   
,subsequent employment ,if the          
,secretary determines appropriate1 an   
employee may move from one center to    
another as long as the employee receives
 specialized training appropriate for   
the center to which the employee moves4 
7#c7 ,additional full time employees    
authorized ,the ,secretary may assign   
additional full-time employees to a     
regional office designated as a center  
of excellence under this section as the 
,secretary determines necessary4 ,for   
any full-time employee of a regional    
office who is assigned to a center of   
excellence under this section1 the      
director of the regional office shall   
hire an additional full-time employee at
 the regional office4  7e7 ,deadline for
 selection of medical conditions ,the   
,secretary of ,veterans ,affairs shall  
select the medical conditions on which  
the claims adjudication centers of      
excellence established under this       

section shall focus by not later than   
#ij days after the date of the enactment
 of this ,act4