Veterans’ Credit Protection Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3012 To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct outreach to veterans regarding the effect of delayed payments of claims for emergency medical care furnished by non-Department of Veterans Affairs medical providers by the Office of Community Care and to direct the Secretary to submit to Congress an annual report regarding such delayed payments. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 23, 2019 Mr. ROUZER (for himself, Mr. MEADOWS, Mr. LAMALFA, Mr. HUDSON, and Mr. FERGUSON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct out- reach to veterans regarding the effect of delayed pay- ments of claims for emergency medical care furnished by non-Department of Veterans Affairs medical providers by the Office of Community Care and to direct the Secretary to submit to Congress an annual report regard- ing such delayed payments. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:52 Jun 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3012.IH H3012 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3012 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veterans’ Credit Pro- 2 tection Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. OUTREACH TO VETERANS REGARDING EFFECT OF 4 CERTAIN DELAYED PAYMENTS BY DEPART- 5 MENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS OFFICE OF 6 COMMUNITY CARE. 7 (a) OUTREACH.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 8 shall conduct outreach, including through national and 9 local veterans service organizations, to inform veterans of 10 how to resolve credit issues caused by delayed payment 11 of an eligible claim for emergency hospital care, emergency 12 medical services, or other emergency health care furnished 13 through a non-Department of Veterans Affairs provider. 14 (b) ANNUAL REPORT.— 15 (1) IN GENERAL.—During the five-year period 16 following the date of the enactment of this Act, the 17 Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall annually submit 18 to Congress a report on the effectiveness of the Of- 19 fice of Community Care (or successor office) in pro- 20 viding timely payment of proper invoices for emer- 21 gency hospital care, emergency medical services, or 22 other emergency health care furnished through non- 23 Department of Veterans Affairs providers by the re- 24 quired payment date. 25 (2) PERIODS COVERED.— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:52 Jun 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3012.IH H3012 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3012 IH (A) The first report submitted under para- 1 graph (1) shall cover the five-year period pre- 2 ceding the date of the report, to the greatest 3 extent practicable. With respect to covering the 4 part of such period that occurred before Octo- 5 ber 1, 2015, the report shall evaluate the provi- 6 sion by the Veterans Integrated Service Net- 7 works of payments described in such paragraph. 8 (B) The reports following the first report 9 shall each cover the period following the date on 10 which the prior report was submitted. 11 (3) MATTERS INCLUDED.—The reports under 12 paragraph (1) shall include, for the period covered 13 by the report, the following: 14 (A) The number of veterans who contacted 15 the Secretary regarding a delayed payment that 16 negatively affected, or will potentially negatively 17 affect, the credit of the veteran. 18 (B) The number of proper invoices sub- 19 mitted, listed in a table for each quarter and 20 fiscal year of each such period that includes— 21 (i) the total amount owed by the Sec- 22 retary under the proper invoices; 23 (ii) the payment status of each proper 24 invoice, as of the date of the report; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:52 Jun 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3012.IH H3012 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3012 IH (iii) the period that elapsed until each 1 proper invoice was paid, including an ex- 2 planation of any delayed payment. 3 (C) Any comments regarding delayed pay- 4 ments made by medical providers. 5 (D) A description of the best practices that 6 the Office of Community Care (or successor of- 7 fice) can carry out to provide timely payment of 8 a proper invoice, including a plan to improve 9 such timely payments. 10 (E) With respect to pending claims for re- 11 imbursement for emergency hospital care, emer- 12 gency medical services, and other emergency 13 health care furnished through non-Department 14 of Veterans Affairs providers— 15 (i) the total number of such pending 16 claims for each hospital system of the De- 17 partment, as of the last day of the period 18 covered by the report; 19 (ii) the total number of veterans who 20 submitted such a pending claim in each 21 State, as of such day; 22 (iii) the aggregate amount of all such 23 pending claims in each State, as of such 24 day; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:52 Jun 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3012.IH H3012 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3012 IH (iv) as of such day— 1 (I) the number of such pending 2 claims that have been pending for 30 3 days or longer; 4 (II) the number of such pending 5 claims that have been pending for 90 6 days or longer; and 7 (III) the number of such pending 8 claims that have been pending for 365 9 days or longer; and 10 (v) for each hospital system, for the 11 period covered by the report— 12 (I) the number of claims for re- 13 imbursement for emergency hospital 14 care, emergency medical services, and 15 other emergency health care furnished 16 through non-Department of Veterans 17 Affairs providers approved during 18 such quarter; 19 (II) the number of such claims 20 denied during such quarter; and 21 (III) the number of such claims 22 denied listed by each denial reason 23 group. 24 (c) COMPTROLLER GENERAL STUDY.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:52 Jun 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3012.IH H3012 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3012 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of 1 the United States shall conduct a study that evalu- 2 ates the effectiveness of the Office of Community 3 Care in providing timely payment of a proper invoice 4 for emergency hospital care, emergency medical serv- 5 ices, or other emergency health care furnished 6 through non-Department of Veterans Affairs pro- 7 viders by the required payment date. 8 (2) SUBMITTAL.—The Comptroller General 9 shall submit to Congress a report on the study con- 10 ducted under paragraph (1), including the total 11 amount of interest penalties paid by the Secretary of 12 Veterans Affairs by reason of a delayed payment. 13 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 14 (1) The term ‘‘delayed payment’’ means a prop- 15 er invoice that is not paid by the Secretary of Vet- 16 erans Affairs until after the required payment date. 17 (2) The term ‘‘proper invoice’’ has the meaning 18 given that term in section 3901(a) of title 31, 19 United States Code. 20 (3) The term ‘‘required payment date’’ means, 21 with respect to proper invoices for emergency hos- 22 pital care, emergency medical services, or other 23 emergency health care, the date that payment is due 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:52 Jun 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3012.IH H3012 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3012 IH pursuant to standards determined appropriate by 1 the Secretary. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:52 Jun 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3012.IH H3012 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS