,i  #aacth ,,congress  #b;d ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #daia  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,march #aa1 #bjad    
,mr4 ,walz 7for himself1 ,mr4 ,barber1  
,mr4 ,denham1 ,ms4 ,esty1 ,ms4 ,frankel 
of ,florida1 ,ms4 ,kuster1 and ,mr4     
,o',rourke7 introduced the following    
bill2 which was referred to the         
,committee on ,veterans' ,affairs  ,a   
,,bill  ,to amend title #ch1 ,united    
,states ,code1 to improve the treatment 
of medical evidence provided by         
non-,department of ,veterans ,affairs   
medical professionals in support of     
claims for disability compensation under
 the laws administered by the ,secretary
 of ,veterans ,affairs1 and for other   
purposes4  #a4 ,short title ,this ,act  
may be cited as the ,quicker ,veterans  
,benefits ,delivery ,act4  #b4          
,treatment of medical evidence provided 
by non-,department of ,veterans ,affairs
 medical professionals in support of    
claims for disability compensation  7a7 
,acceptance of reports of private       

physician examinations ,section #eabe of
 such title is amended--  7#a7 by       
striking ,for purposes and inserting 7a7
 ,in general4--2  7#b7 by striking may  
and inserting shall2 and  7#c7 by adding
 at the end the following new           
subsection3  7b7 ,sufficiently complete 
defined ,for purposes of a report       
described in subsection 7a71 the term   
sufficiently complete means competent1  
credible1 probative1 and containing such
 information as may be required to make 
a decision on the claim for which the   
report is provided4  4  7b7 ,effective  
date ,the amendment made by subsection  
7a7 shall apply with respect to medical 
evidence submitted after the date that  
is #ij days after the date of the       
enactment of this ,act4  #c4 ,report on 
progress of ,acceptable ,clinical       
,evidence initiative  7a7 ,in general   
,not later than #ahj days after the date
 of the enactment of this ,act1 the     
,secretary 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        
progress of the ,acceptable ,clinical   
,evidence initiative of the ,department 
of ,veterans ,affairs in reducing the   
necessity for in-person disability      
examinations and other efforts to comply
 with the provisions of section #eabe of
 title #ch1 ,united ,states ,code1 as   
amended by section #b4  7b7 ,contents of
 report ,the report required by         
subsection 7a7 shall include the        
following3  7#a7 ,the number of claims  
eligible for the ,acceptable ,clinical  
,evidence initiative during the period  
beginning on the date of the enactment  
of this ,act1 disaggregated by fiscal   
year4  7#b7 ,the total number of claims 
eligible for the ,acceptable ,clinical  
,evidence initiative that required a    
medical examiner of the ,department to  
supplement the evidence with information
 obtained during a telephone interview  
with a claimant4  7#c7 ,information on  

any other initiatives or efforts of the 
,department to further encourage the use
 of private medical evidence and        
reliance upon reports of a medical      
examination administered by a private   
physician if the report is sufficiently 
complete to be adequate for the purposes
 of adjudicating a claim4  7#d7 ,the    
anticipated impact on the timeline and  
accuracy of a decision on a claim for   
benefits under chapter #aa or #ae of    
title #ch1 ,united ,states ,code1 if the
 ,secretary were prohibited from        
requesting a medical examination in the 
case of a claim in support of which a   
claimant submits medical evidence and a 
medical opinion provided by a private   
physician that is competent1 credible1  
probative1 and otherwise adequate for   
the purpose of making a decision on that
 claim4  7#e7 ,recommendations on how   
the ,department can measure1 track1 and 
prevent the ordering of unnecessary     
medical examinations when the provision 
by a claimant of a medical examination  

administered by a private physician in  
support of a claim for benefits under   
chapter #aa or #ae of title #ch1 ,united
 ,states ,code1 is adequate for the     
purpose of making a decision on that    
claim4  #d4 ,annual report ,not later   
than ,march #a of each year1 the        
,secretary of ,veterans ,affairs shall  
submit to ,congress a report that       
includes1 for the calendar year         
preceding the year in which the report  
is submitted1 the following for each    
regional office of the ,department of   
,veterans ,affairs3  7#a7 ,the number of
 times a veteran who submitted private  
medical evidence in support of a claim  
for compensation or pension under the   
laws administered by the ,secretary was 
scheduled for an examination performed  
by ,department personnel because the    
private medical evidence submitted was  
determined to be unacceptable4  7#b7    
,the most common reasons why private    
medical evidence submitted in support of
 claims for benefits under the laws     

administered by the ,secretary was      
determined to be unacceptable4  7#c7    
,the types of disabilities for which    
claims for benefits under the laws      
administered by the ,secretary were     
mostly commonly denied when private     
medical evidence was submitted4