CRUISE Act

This Act may be cited as the “Centralized Reimbursement for Upgraded Innovative Service Equipment Act” or the “CRUISE Act”.

(a) Timeliness of payments.— Section 3902 of title 38, United States Code, is amended, in subsection (a)—

(1) by inserting “(1)” before “The Secretary”; and

(2) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:

“(2) The Secretary shall—

(A) make payments under this section in compliance with regulations prescribed under section 3903(a) of title 31; and

(B) in the case of any payment under this section that is not processed during the period of 30 days following receipt by the Secretary of the final invoice for such payment, the Secretary shall publish in the Federal Register the number of days required to process the payment.”.

(b) Centralization of process for making payments.— Such section is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:

“(f)

(1) The Secretary shall process payments under this section through one office of the Department that the Secretary determines has the capacity and expertise to make such payments in compliance with regulations described in subsection (a)(2).

(2) The Secretary shall accurately track and resolve payments due to sellers under this section that are more than 90 days overdue.”.

(c) Reporting.— The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and House of Representatives, and publish on a publicly accessible website of the Department of Veterans Affairs, four semiannual reports after the date of the enactment of this Act, regarding the administration of section 3902 of title 38, United States Code, as amended by this section. Each such report shall include, with respect to the period of six months preceding the date of the report, the following elements:

(1) The average and median number of days between receipt of a invoice for payment under such section by the Claims Intake Center of the Department and the day when the Secretary makes such payment, disaggregated by whether the claim was under review or being processed by—

(A) the Veterans Health Administration;

(B) the Veterans Benefits Administration; or

(C) the seller.

(2) Improvements to information technology of the Department that the Secretary determines would reduce the time required for such review or processing.

(d) GAO report; briefing.—

(1) Report.— Not later than 180 days after the day the Secretary completes centralization under subsection (f) of section 3902 of title 38, United States Code, as added by this section, the Comptroller General of the United States shall review such centralization and publish a report containing the results of such review. Such report shall include the determinations of the Comptroller General regarding the following:

(A) The capacity of the office determined by the Secretary under such subsection, to carry out processing described in such subsection, including—

(i) a comprehensive assessment of employees of the Department who carry out chapter 39 of such title;

(ii) a comprehensive skills assessment indicating what resources the Secretary requires to otherwise improve such centralization, including additional funds, employees, or contractors; and

(iii) a review of systems of information technology, including systems in use or to be acquired, to carry out such centralization.

(B) Recommendations to improve such processing.

(C) Estimated costs to the United States to implement such recommendations.

(2) Briefing.— Not later than 30 days after publishing the report under paragraph (1), the Comptroller General shall provide to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives and Senate a briefing on such report. Such briefing shall include any response from the Secretary to the Comptroller General regarding the recommendations in the report.

Section 5503(d)(7) of title 38, United States Code, is amended by striking “January 31, 2033” and inserting “October 31, 2033”.