I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 2640
To amend title 38, United States Code, to ensure that certain health care
contractors of the Department of Veterans Affairs are subject to Federal
tort claims laws, to improve the accountability of physicians of the
Department, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL3, 2025
Mr. L
UTTRELLintroduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Veterans’ Affairs
A BILL
To amend title 38, United States Code, to ensure that cer-
tain health care contractors of the Department of Vet-
erans Affairs are subject to Federal tort claims laws,
to improve the accountability of physicians of the Depart-
ment, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Brian Tally VA Em-4
ployment Transparency Act of 2025’’. 5
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SEC. 2. ACCOUNTABILITY OF HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS AT 1
FACILITIES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF VET-2
ERANS AFFAIRS. 3
(a) T
REATMENT OFCONTRACTORSUNDERFEDERAL 4
T
ORTCLAIMSLAWS.—Section 7316 of title 38, United 5
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-6
lowing new subsection: 7
‘‘(g)(1)(A) This section shall not apply with respect 8
to civil actions or other proceedings brought by an indi-9
vidual, or the estate of an individual, for damages for per-10
sonal injury, including death, allegedly arising from the 11
malpractice or negligence of a non-Department provider 12
in the course of providing hospital care, medical services, 13
or nursing home care at a facility of the Department, if 14
the Secretary provides to the individual, or the estate of 15
the individual, by not later than 45 days after the Sec-16
retary receives notice of the civil action or other pro-17
ceeding, the information referred to in subparagraph (B). 18
‘‘(B) The information referred to in this subpara-19
graph is the following: 20
‘‘(i) A description of the extent of the involve-21
ment of the non-Department provider in the hospital 22
care, medical services, or nursing home care fur-23
nished to the individual. 24
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‘‘(ii) The nature of such care or services fur-1
nished to the individual by the non-Department pro-2
vider. 3
‘‘(iii) The full name of the non-Department pro-4
vider. 5
‘‘(iv) The fact that the notification is made pur-6
suant to this paragraph. 7
‘‘(C) A civil action or other proceeding arising from 8
an incident of alleged malpractice or negligence of a non- 9
Department provider may not be brought in both a State 10
court and in a Federal court. 11
‘‘(2)(A) If five or more separate covered cases 12
brought during a five-year period include allegations of 13
malpractice or negligence on the part of any individual 14
non-Department provider, the Secretary— 15
‘‘(i) shall revoke the provider’s authorization to 16
provide hospital care, medical services, or nursing 17
home care at a facility of the Department; and 18
‘‘(ii) may not enter into any contract or agree-19
ment that authorizes the provider to provide such 20
care or services at a facility of the Department. 21
‘‘(B) The Secretary shall establish a process by which 22
a non-Department provider may appeal an action under 23
subparagraph (A). 24
‘‘(3) In this subsection: 25
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‘‘(A) The term ‘covered case’ means any of the 1
following: 2
‘‘(i) A civil action or proceeding pursuant 3
to this section that resulted in a judgment 4
against the United States, or such an action or 5
proceeding that the United States compromises 6
or settles. 7
‘‘(ii) A civil action or proceeding pursuant 8
to State law for personal injury, including 9
death, allegedly arising from malpractice or 10
negligence that resulted in a judgment against 11
a non-Department provider, or such an action 12
or proceeding that the non-Department provider 13
compromises or settles. 14
‘‘(B) The term ‘non-Department provider’— 15
‘‘(i) means a health care provider who is 16
not an employee of the Federal Government but 17
who is authorized by the Secretary to provide 18
health care or treatment at a facility of the De-19
partment pursuant to a contract or other agree-20
ment; and 21
‘‘(ii) does not include a provider through 22
which the Secretary furnishes care or services 23
under section 1703 of this title.’’. 24
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(b) NOTIFICATIONS AND OUTREACHREGARDING 1
F
EDERALTORTCLAIMS.—Such section, as amended by 2
subsection (a), is further amended by adding at the end 3
the following new subsections: 4
‘‘(h) Not later than 30 days following the date on 5
which a judgment is entered against the United States in 6
a civil action or proceeding pursuant to this section that 7
includes a conclusion that a non-Department employee 8
committed negligence or malpractice, the Secretary shall 9
notify the following entities with respect to such judgment: 10
‘‘(1) The appropriate licensing entity of each 11
State in which such non-Department employee is li-12
censed as a health care professional. 13
‘‘(2) The National Practitioner Data Bank es-14
tablished pursuant to the Health Care Quality Im-15
provement Act of 1986 (42 U.S.C. 11101 et seq.). 16
‘‘(i) The Secretary shall publish in a clear and con-17
spicuous manner on the internet website of the Depart-18
ment an explanation of the rights of an individual under 19
this section, including— 20
‘‘(1) an explanation of the procedure to file an 21
administrative claim pursuant to section 515 of this 22
title or section 2675 of title 28; 23
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‘‘(2) the circumstances under which an indi-1
vidual may file a civil action or proceeding pursuant 2
to this section; and 3
‘‘(3) time limits that can bar recovery under 4
this section.’’. 5
(c) A
CCOUNTABILITY OF PHYSICIANS OF THE DE-6
PARTMENT.—Section 7461 of such title is amended— 7
(1) in subsection (a)— 8
(A) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘Whenever’’; 9
and 10
(B) by adding at the end the following new 11
paragraph: 12
‘‘(2) The Under Secretary shall bring charges under 13
paragraph (1) based on professional conduct or com-14
petence against a section 7401(1) employee who is accused 15
of committing negligence or malpractice in three or more 16
separate civil actions or proceedings pursuant to section 17
7316 of this title within a five-year period if such actions 18
or proceedings— 19
‘‘(A) resulted in a judgment against the United 20
States; or 21
‘‘(B) were compromised or settled by the 22
United States.’’; and 23
(2) in subsection (c)(3), by adding at the end 24
the following new subparagraph: 25
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‘‘(C) The provision of care subject to a 1
civil action or proceeding pursuant to section 2
7316 of this title that— 3
‘‘(i) resulted in a judgment against 4
the United States; or 5
‘‘(ii) is compromised or settled by the 6
United States.’’. 7
(d) A
PPLICABILITY.—The amendments made by this 8
section shall take effect with respect to actions or omis-9
sions covered under section 7316 of title 38, United States 10
Code, occurring on or after the date of the enactment of 11
this Act. 12
Æ
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