[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6231 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 6231
To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct a study on the
feasibility and advisability of establishing a pilot program to support
medical residency and fellowship programs that assist veterans, and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
December 9, 2021
Mr. Neguse introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Veterans' Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct a study on the
feasibility and advisability of establishing a pilot program to support
medical residency and fellowship programs that assist veterans, and for
other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Veterans Pro Bono Corps Act of
2021''.
SEC. 2. STUDY ON POTENTIAL PILOT PROGRAM TO SUPPORT MEDICAL RESIDENCY
AND FELLOWSHIP PROGRAMS THAT ASSIST VETERANS.
(a) Sense of Congress.--It is the Sense of Congress that--
(1) the COVID-19 pandemic and other factors have
contributed to a growing backlog of veterans needing medical
disability examinations and opinions;
(2) access to medical disability examinations and opinions
is critical for veterans to receive disability compensation
benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs;
(3) there remains a need to train non-Department of
Veterans Affairs clinicians to understand and support the
unique medical needs of disabled veterans;
(4) veterans who are dissatisfied with medical disability
examinations or opinions provided by employees or contractors
of the Department of Veterans Affairs may obtain and submit
outside, independent disability evaluations; however, most
veterans cannot afford to obtain such evaluations and most non-
Department training clinicians are not familiar with the
specific legal criteria and medical findings necessary to
prepare adequate disability examination reports and opinions;
and
(5) clinics within non-Department of Veterans Affairs
medical residency and fellowship programs are a potential
resource to supplement the current medical disability
examination and opinion system carried out by employees and
contractors of the Department by--
(A) affording disabled veterans with another option
for high-quality, outside, independent disability
evaluations; and
(B) providing non-Department clinicians with
clinical training and experience necessary to
understand the unique medical needs of disabled
veterans.
(b) Study Required.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall
conduct a study to assess the feasibility and advisability of--
(1) establishing the pilot program described in subsection
(d); and
(2) using the disability benefits questionnaire forms as
described in subsection (d)(8) to support such program.
(c) Report Required.--Not later than one year after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit
to Congress a report on the findings of the study conducted under
subsection (b).
(d) Pilot Program Described.--
(1) In general.--The pilot program described in this
section is a pilot program under which the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs provides assistance to eligible recipients to
establish or maintain programs that assist veterans applying
for compensation under chapter 11 of title 38, United States
Code, in substantiating their claims with independent medical
examinations and opinions.
(2) Eligible recipients.--For purposes of the pilot
program, an eligible recipient would be an entity that--
(A) is administering a non-Department of Veterans
Affairs medical residency or medical fellowship program
in the United States or a territory of the United
States; and
(B) is accredited by a nationally recognized
accrediting agency.
(3) Duration.--The Secretary would carry out the pilot
program during the five-year period beginning on the date of
the commencement of the pilot program.
(4) Grants.--The Secretary would carry out the pilot
program through the award of grants to eligible recipients to
establish or maintain programs as described in paragraph (1).
(5) Competitive process.--The Secretary would establish a
competitive process for the award of the grants under the pilot
program.
(6) Selection of grant recipients.--In awarding grants
under the pilot program, the Secretary may give preference to
an eligible recipient located in a rural area or an underserved
area.
(7) Use of grant funds.--
(A) In general.--Each eligible recipient receiving
a grant under the pilot program would use the grant to
establish or maintain a program as described in
paragraph (1) in which medical residents or fellows
provide pro bono medical examinations and opinions for
the purposes described in that paragraph.
(B) Requirements.--For each program established or
maintained with amounts from a grant under the pilot
program--
(i) medical residents and fellows would
practice under the supervision of attending
physicians in accordance with such supervisory
requirements as the Secretary would prescribe
in regulations;
(ii) each attending physician providing
such supervision would be in good standing with
the medical licensing board of each State in
which the attending physician is licensed;
(iii) each medical resident and fellow
would be in good standing with--
(I) the program established or
maintained with amounts from the grant;
and
(II) the medical licensing board of
each State in which the resident or
fellow is licensed;
(iv) each medical resident, fellow, and
attending physician would undergo training that
is substantially the same as or equivalent to
training required for medical examiners of the
Veterans Health Administration or contractors
of the Department of Veterans Affairs who
conduct medical examinations for purposes of
supporting claims for compensation under
chapter 11 of title 38, United States Code;
(v) medical residents would be in their
second year or later of a medical residency;
(vi) the program would not charge veterans
fees for the services provided;
(vii) the program would screen individual
applicants who are veterans using such income
eligibility criteria as the Secretary would
prescribe in regulations;
(viii) the recipient of the grant would, on
an annual basis, provide the Secretary with an
accounting of how the recipient has used and
allocated grant funds; and
(ix) the program would meet such other
criteria as the Secretary may prescribe in
regulations.
(8) Forms.--The Secretary would provide to each recipient
of a grant under the pilot program all current disability
benefits questionnaire forms of the Department of Veterans
Affairs.
(9) Outreach.--The Secretary would, in partnership with
veterans service organizations, implement an informative
outreach program for veterans regarding the availability of
services from programs established or maintained under the
pilot program.
(10) Rule of construction.--
(A) Voluntary participation.--Participation by any
veteran in the pilot program would be voluntary.
(B) Right to medical examination.--Administration
of the pilot program would not be construed to
invalidate or replace the right of a veteran to a
medical examination provided by an employee or
contractor of the Department of Veterans Affairs under
section 5103A(d) of title 38, United States Code.
(11) Definitions.--In this subsection:
(A) The term ``rural area'' means an area
classified as ``rural'' by the Bureau of the Census.
(B) The term ``underserved area'' means an area
that meets one or more of the following criteria:
(i) The area has a high proportion of
individuals who have limited access to health
care.
(ii) The area has a high proportion of
individuals who have limited access to legal
services.
(C) The term ``veterans service organization''
means an organization recognized by the Secretary for
the representation of veterans under section 5902 of
title 38, United States Code.
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