HR3489-119

What This Bill Does

The Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Physicist Pay Cap Relief Act amends title 38 to add therapeutic medical physicists and diagnostic medical physicists alongside other VA health professionals. It adds appointment eligibility rules requiring satisfactory post-graduate clinical training in therapeutic or diagnostic medical physics and board certification in the relevant field by a certifying body approved by the Secretary. The bill inserts those physicists into VA grade and pay schedule provisions, adds them to section 7421 health-professional personnel categories, and amends section 7431 so therapeutic and diagnostic medical physicists are included in base-pay and market-pay language currently used for physicians, podiatrists, optometrists, and dentists. It also amends section 7433 to include them in related special-pay provisions. The practical effect is to let VA recruit and retain medical physicists for radiation therapy, diagnostic imaging, and related care under more appropriate title 38 pay authorities.

Who Benefits and How

VA therapeutic medical physicists benefit from title 38 appointment status, qualifications, pay schedules, base pay, and market pay. VA diagnostic medical physicists benefit from the same title 38 personnel and pay treatment. VA medical centers benefit from better recruitment and retention tools for radiation therapy and diagnostic imaging safety roles. Veterans receiving cancer treatment or imaging benefit if VA can keep qualified medical physicists on staff.

Who Bears the Burden and How

VA human resources staff must update qualification standards, appointments, pay tables, and market-pay administration. The VA Secretary must approve certifying bodies and implement training and board-certification standards. Federal taxpayers bear higher compensation costs if VA raises physicist pay to market levels. VA budget staff must account for new title 38 pay eligibility for therapeutic and diagnostic medical physicists.

Key Provisions

• Adds therapeutic and diagnostic medical physicists to VA title 38 health-professional categories.
• Requires postgraduate clinical training and board certification for appointment eligibility.
• Adds medical physicists to VA grade, pay schedule, base-pay, market-pay, and special-pay provisions.
• Improves VA recruitment and retention authority for radiation therapy and diagnostic imaging physicist roles.