Press Releases

Today Chairman Miller introduced H.R. 5286, the VA Construction and Lease Authorization, Health, and Benefits Enhancement Act.

The bill would improve Department of Veterans Affairs health care and benefits in a variety of ways, including:

• Requiring strict background checks for VA physicians
• Ensuring VA’s West Los Angeles campus is used to benefit veterans, including those who are homeless
• Authorizing VA to enter into provider agreements to increase access to care in the community for veterans
• Improving the timeliness of VA payments to private-sector health care providers
• Authorizing VA to carry out major medical facility projects and leases in a number of states
• Establishing a national center for research, diagnosis and treatment of toxic-exposure related health conditions of veterans’ descendants

• Providing eligible veterans compensation for the loss of use of reproductive organs totaling $20,000, which could be used at the veteran’s discretion, including for adoption fees or other personal expenses

After introducing the bill, Chairman Miller released the following statement:

“When it comes to reforming VA into an organization truly worthy of the veterans it is charged with serving, there is still much more work to be done. But H.R. 5286 brings us closer to this goal in a number of different ways, whether it’s ensuring VA has skin in the game when it comes to paying its bills on time, streamlining the department’s process for partnering with private-sector health care providers or fairly compensating some of our most severely injured veterans. I am proud of the work that went into this bill and hopeful we can send it to the Senate in short order.”– Rep. Jeff Miller, Chairman, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs

Read the text of the bill here.