Vets CLEAR Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8043 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8043

To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the efficiency of the
   recovery and collection of revenue for the Department of Veterans
     Affairs Medical Care Collections Fund, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 24, 2026

  Mr. Ciscomani (for himself and Ms. Bynum) introduced the following
     bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the efficiency of the
   recovery and collection of revenue for the Department of Veterans
     Affairs Medical Care Collections Fund, 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 ``Vets Collections, Liquidity, and
Efficiency Accountability for Reinvestment Act'' or the ``Vets CLEAR
Act''.

SEC. 2. PROVIDE FLEXIBILITY AND EFFICIENCY FOR COLLECTION OF REVENUE
              FOR DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS MEDICAL CARE
              COLLECTIONS FUND.

    (a) In General.--Section 1729A of title 38, United States Code, is
amended--
            (1) in subsection (b), by adding at the end the following
        new paragraphs:
            ``(11) Sections 3711 and 3729 through 3733 of title 31, to
        the extent that such recovery or collection is based on medical
        care, services, or medication provided or paid for under this
        chapter.
            ``(12) Amounts recovered or collected through
        administrative, legal, or judicial processes, including
        investigations and audits, to the extent that such recovery or
        collection is based on medical care, services, or medication
        provided or paid for under this chapter.'';
            (2) by redesignating subsections (c), (d), and (e) as
        subsections (d), (e), and (f), respectively; and
            (3) by inserting after subsection (b) the following new
        subsection:
    ``(c)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, funds directed
to the `Medical Services' account to reimburse such account for the
costs of care provided under the following authorities may, at the
discretion of the Secretary, be deposited in the Medical Care
Collections Fund:
            ``(A) Section 1781 of this title.
            ``(B) Section 8111 of this title.
    ``(2) The authority of the Secretary to deposit amounts into the
Medical Care Collections Fund pursuant to this subsection shall expire
on September 30, 2028.''.
    (b) GAO Reports.--Such section is further amended by adding at the
end the following new subsection:
    ``(g)(1) Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of
this subsection, and not less frequently than once every 180 days
thereafter during period the authority under subsection (c) is
effective, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to
the Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and the House of
Representatives a report on amounts deposited into the Medical Care
Collections Fund under this section.
    ``(2) Each report required under paragraph (1) shall include--
            ``(A) the total amount of funds recovered or collected
        during the period covered by the report, disaggregated by
        source of recovery or collection; and
            ``(B) a description of how such funds were expended by the
        Department, including the categories of medical care, services,
        staffing, or other purposes for which the funds were used.''.
                                 <all>