; and (2) in subsection (e), by adding at the end the following new paragraph: (3) The term covered non-Department provider means a medical provider who is not an employee of the Department and who provides examinations with respect to medical disability of applicants for benefits under laws administered by the Secretary pursuant to a contract with the Department. . 3. Improvement of provision of medical disability examinations by contractors (a) Report on improving reimbursement for travel relating to medical disability examinations Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, after consulting with the Secretary of State and the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration, shall submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the House of Representatives a report on the efforts of the Secretary to reimburse veterans for expenses incurred traveling to a facility of the Department or of a covered non-Department provider incident to an examination with respect to the medical disability of the veteran for purposes of benefits under the laws administered by the Secretary, regardless of whether the facility is located inside or outside the United States. (b) Communication by non-Department providers providing medical disability examinations with individuals and organizations designated for preparation, presentation, and prosecution of claims Any contract entered into by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs after the date of the enactment of this Act under which a covered non-Department provider agrees to provide examinations with respect to medical disability for applicants for benefits under the laws administered by the Secretary, shall include a requirement that every communication from the covered non-Department provider to such an applicant regarding the scheduling of a covered medical disability examination be contemporaneously transmitted to any person or organization— (1) designated by the applicant by a power of attorney filed with