,,ib  ,union ,calendar ,no4 #hb  #aaeth 
,,congress  #ast ,session  ,h4 ,r4 #agbe
  ,report ,no4 #aae-acc  ,,in ,,the     
,,house ,,of ,,representatives  ,march  
#bd1 #bjag ,mr4 ,walz 7for himself1 ,mr4
 ,denham1 ,mr4 ,langevin1 ,ms4          
,mc,sally1 ,mr4 ,johnson of ,ohio1 ,mr4 
,costello of ,pennsylvania1 and ,ms4    
,kuster of ,new ,hampshire7 introduced  
the following bill2 which was referred  
to the ,committee on ,veterans' ,affairs
  ,may #ai1 #bjag ,additional sponsors3 
,mr4 ,higgins of ,new ,york and ,ms4    
,shea-,porter  ,may #ai1 #bjag ,reported
 with amendments1 committed to the      
,committee of the ,whole ,house on the  
,state of the ,union1 and ordered to be 
printed ,strike out all after the       
enacting clause and insert the part     
printed in italic ,for text of          
introduced bill1 see copy of bill as    
introduced on ,march #bd1 #bjag  ,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 ,report on progress of   
,department of ,veterans ,affairs       
,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 ,code4  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 commencement of the  
initiative and ending on the date of the
 submittal of the report1 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  #b4 ,annual report on submittal 
of private medical evidence in support  
of claims for ,department of ,veterans  
,affairs benefits ,not later than ,march
 #a of fiscal years #bjah through #bjbd1
 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  ,amend 
the title so as to read3 ,a bill to     

direct the ,secretary of ,veterans      
,affairs to submit certain reports      
relating to medical evidence submitted  
in support of claims for benefits under 
the laws administered by the            
,secretary44 ,may #ai1 #bjag ,reported  
with amendments1 committed to the       
,committee of the ,whole ,house on the  
,state of the ,union1 and ordered to be 
printed