Section 1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Better Examiner Standards and Transparency for Veterans Act of 2024 or the BEST for Vets Act of 2024.
(a) Prohibition on use of certain health care professionals
Section 504(a) of the Veterans' Benefits Improvements Act of 1996 (Public Law 104–275; 38 U.S.C. 5101 note) is amended—
(1) by striking The Secretary of Veterans Affairs and inserting the following:
(1) In general
The Secretary of Veterans Affairs
(1) ; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
(2) Prohibition
No examination described in paragraph (1) may be carried out under this section by any health care professional other than one described in subsection (c)(2).
(b) Remedies
The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall take such actions as the Secretary considers appropriate to ensure that only health care professionals described in subsection (c)(2) of section 504 of the Veterans' Benefits Improvements Act of 1996 (Public Law 104–275; 38 U.S.C. 5101 note) are conducting examinations pursuant to contracts entered into under such section.
(c) Annual report
Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act and not less frequently than once each year thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives a report on—
(1) the conduct of the pilot program established under section 504 of the Veterans' Benefits Improvements Act of 1996 (Public Law 104–275; 38 U.S.C. 5101 note); and
(2) the actions of the Secretary under subsection (b).
(d) Technical corrections
Section 504 of the Veterans' Benefits Improvements Act of 1996 (Public Law 104–275; 38 U.S.C. 5101 note) is amended, in the section heading, by striking physicians and inserting health care professionals.