{"id":5992,"date":"2019-06-01T09:32:54","date_gmt":"2019-06-01T09:32:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/laweuro.com\/?p=5992"},"modified":"2019-06-01T09:33:24","modified_gmt":"2019-06-01T09:33:24","slug":"public-law-115-130-an-act-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","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/laweuro.com\/?p=5992","title":{"rendered":"Public Law 115 &#8211; 130 &#8211; An act 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 Secretary"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[115th Congress Public Law 130]<br \/>\n[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]<\/p>\n<div><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"embed-pdf-viewer\" src=\"https:\/\/laweuro.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/PLAW-115publ130.pdf\" height=\"1000\" width=\"100%\" title=\"PLAW 115publ130\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/laweuro.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/PLAW-115publ130.pdf\" title=\"PLAW 115publ130\">PLAW 115publ130<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>[[Page 132 STAT. 332]]<\/p>\n<p>Public Law 115-130<br \/>\n115th Congress<\/p>\n<p>An Act<\/p>\n<p>To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit certain reports<br \/>\nrelating to medical evidence submitted in support of claims for benefits<br \/>\nunder the laws administered by the Secretary. &lt;&lt;NOTE: Mar. 9,<br \/>\n2018 &#8211; [H.R. 1725]&gt;&gt;<\/p>\n<p>Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the<br \/>\nUnited States of America in Congress assembled,<br \/>\nSECTION 1. REPORT ON PROGRESS OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS<br \/>\nACCEPTABLE CLINICAL EVIDENCE<br \/>\nINITIATIVE.<\/p>\n<p>(a) In General.&#8211;Not later than 180 days after the date of the<br \/>\nenactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on<br \/>\nVeterans&#8217; Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Veterans&#8217; Affairs<br \/>\nof the House of Representatives a report on the progress of the<br \/>\nAcceptable Clinical Evidence initiative of the Department of Veterans<br \/>\nAffairs in reducing the necessity for in-person disability examinations<br \/>\nand other efforts to comply with the provisions of section 5125 of title<br \/>\n38, United States Code.<br \/>\n(b) Contents of Report.&#8211;The report required by subsection (a) shall<br \/>\ninclude the following:<br \/>\n(1) The number of claims eligible for the Acceptable<br \/>\nClinical Evidence initiative during the period beginning on the<br \/>\ndate of the commencement of the initiative and ending on the<br \/>\ndate of the submittal of the report, disaggregated by fiscal<br \/>\nyear.<br \/>\n(2) The total number of claims eligible for the Acceptable<br \/>\nClinical Evidence initiative that required a medical examiner of<br \/>\nthe Department to supplement the evidence with information<br \/>\nobtained during a telephone interview with a claimant.<br \/>\n(3) Information on any other initiatives or efforts of the<br \/>\nDepartment to further encourage the use of private medical<br \/>\nevidence and reliance upon reports of a medical examination<br \/>\nadministered by a private physician if the report is<br \/>\nsufficiently complete to be adequate for the purposes of<br \/>\nadjudicating a claim.<br \/>\n(4) The anticipated impact on the timeline and accuracy of a<br \/>\ndecision on a claim for benefits under chapter 11 or 15 of title<br \/>\n38, United States Code, if the Secretary were prohibited from<br \/>\nrequesting a medical examination in the case of a claim in<br \/>\nsupport of which a claimant submits medical evidence and a<br \/>\nmedical opinion provided by a private physician that is<br \/>\ncompetent, credible, probative, and otherwise adequate for the<br \/>\npurpose of making a decision on that claim.<br \/>\n(5) Recommendations on how the Department can measure,<br \/>\ntrack, and prevent the ordering of unnecessary medical<br \/>\nexaminations when the provision by a claimant of a medical<\/p>\n<p>[[Page 132 STAT. 333]]<\/p>\n<p>examination administered by a private physician in support of a<br \/>\nclaim for benefits under chapter 11 or 15 of title 38, United<br \/>\nStates Code, is adequate for the purpose of making a decision on<br \/>\nthat claim.<br \/>\nSEC. 2. ANNUAL REPORT ON SUBMITTAL OF PRIVATE MEDICAL EVIDENCE IN<br \/>\nSUPPORT OF CLAIMS FOR DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS<br \/>\nAFFAIRS BENEFITS.<\/p>\n<p>Not later than March 1 of fiscal years 2018 through 2024, the<br \/>\nSecretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to Congress a report that<br \/>\nincludes, for the calendar year preceding the year in which the report<br \/>\nis submitted, the following for each regional office of the Department<br \/>\nof Veterans Affairs:<br \/>\n(1) The number of times a veteran who submitted private<br \/>\nmedical evidence in support of a claim for compensation or<br \/>\npension under the laws administered by the Secretary was<br \/>\nscheduled for an examination performed by Department personnel<br \/>\nbecause the private medical evidence submitted was determined to<br \/>\nbe unacceptable.<br \/>\n(2) The most common reasons why private medical evidence<br \/>\nsubmitted in support of claims for benefits under the laws<br \/>\nadministered by the Secretary was determined to be unacceptable.<br \/>\n(3) The types of disabilities for which claims for benefits<br \/>\nunder the laws administered by the Secretary were mostly<br \/>\ncommonly denied when private medical evidence was submitted.<\/p>\n<p>Approved March 9, 2018.<\/p>\n<p>LEGISLATIVE HISTORY&#8211;H.R. 1725:<br \/>\n&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;<\/p>\n<p>HOUSE REPORTS: No. 115-133 (Comm. on Veterans&#8217; Affairs).<br \/>\nCONGRESSIONAL RECORD:<br \/>\nVol. 163 (2017):<br \/>\nMay 23, considered and passed House.<br \/>\nVol. 164 (2018):<br \/>\nFeb. 15, considered and passed<br \/>\nSenate.<\/p>\n<p>&lt;all&gt;<\/p>\n<div class=\"social-share-buttons\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/laweuro.com\/?p=5992\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?url=https:\/\/laweuro.com\/?p=5992&text=Public+Law+115+%E2%80%93+130+%E2%80%93+An+act+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+Secretary\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Twitter<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/shareArticle?url=https:\/\/laweuro.com\/?p=5992&title=Public+Law+115+%E2%80%93+130+%E2%80%93+An+act+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+Secretary\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">LinkedIn<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/pinterest.com\/pin\/create\/button\/?url=https:\/\/laweuro.com\/?p=5992&description=Public+Law+115+%E2%80%93+130+%E2%80%93+An+act+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+Secretary\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Pinterest<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[115th Congress Public Law 130] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] PLAW 115publ130 [[Page 132 STAT. 332]] Public Law 115-130 115th Congress An Act To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit certain reports relating to medical evidence submitted&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"more-link-p\"><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/laweuro.com\/?p=5992\">Read more &rarr;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5992","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-public-and-private-laws-u-s"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/laweuro.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5992","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/laweuro.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/laweuro.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laweuro.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laweuro.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5992"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/laweuro.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5992\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5994,"href":"https:\/\/laweuro.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5992\/revisions\/5994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/laweuro.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laweuro.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laweuro.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}