[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6073 Introduced in House (IH)]








109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6073

To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve compensation benefits 
 for veterans in certain cases of impairment of vision involving both 
                     eyes, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 14, 2006

 Ms. Baldwin (for herself, Mr. Boozman, Mr. Miller of Florida, and Ms. 
   Berkley) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve compensation benefits 
 for veterans in certain cases of impairment of vision involving both 
                     eyes, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. ENHANCED COMPENSATION BENEFITS FOR VETERANS IN CERTAIN CASES 
              OF IMPAIRMENT OF VISION INVOLVING BOTH EYES.

    (a) Short Title.--This section may be cited as the ``Dr. James 
Allen Veteran Vision Equity Act''.
    (b) Enhanced Compensation.--Section 1160(a)(1) of title 38, United 
States Code, is amended--
            (1) by striking ``blindness'' both places it appears and 
        inserting ``impairment of vision''; and
            (2) by inserting before the semicolon at the end the 
        following: ``, where the impairment in each eye is to a visual 
        acuity of 20/200 or less''.

SEC. 2. USE OF NATIONAL DIRECTORY OF NEW HIRES FOR INCOME VERIFICATION 
              PURPOSES FOR CERTAIN VETERANS BENEFITS.

    (a) Use of Information in National Directory of New Hires.--Chapter 
53 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 
following new section:
``Sec. 5320. Use of National Directory of New Hires for income 
              verification purposes
    ``(a) Information From National Directory of New Hires.--(1) The 
Secretary shall furnish to the Secretary of Health and Human Services, 
on a quarterly basis or at such intervals as may be determined by the 
Secretary, information in the custody of the Secretary for comparison 
with information in the National Directory of New Hires maintained by 
the Secretary of Health and Human Services pursuant to section 453 of 
the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 653), in order to obtain the 
information in such directory with respect to individuals under the age 
of 65 who are applicants for or recipients of benefits or services 
specified in subsection (d).
    ``(2) The Secretary shall seek information pursuant to this 
subsection only to the extent essential to determining eligibility for 
benefits and services specified in subsection (d) and the amount of 
benefits specified in paragraphs (1) and (2) of that subsection for 
individuals under the age of 65.
    ``(3)(A) The Secretary of Health and Human Services, in cooperation 
with the Secretary, shall compare information in the National Directory 
of New Hires with information in the custody of the Secretary furnished 
pursuant to paragraph (1), and disclose information in that Directory 
to the Secretary, in accordance with this subsection, for the purposes 
specified in this subsection.
    ``(B) The Secretary of Health and Human Services may make a 
disclosure in accordance with subparagraph (A) only to the extent that 
that Secretary determines that such disclosure does not interfere with 
the effective operation of the program under part D of title IV of the 
Social Security Act.
    ``(4) The Secretary may use information resulting from a data match 
pursuant to this subsection only for the purpose of determining 
eligibility for benefits and services specified in subsection (d) and 
the amount of benefits specified in paragraphs (1) and (2) of that 
subsection.
    ``(5) The Secretary shall reimburse the Secretary of Health and 
Human Services for the additional costs incurred by that Secretary in 
furnishing information under this subsection. Such reimbursement shall 
be at rates that the Secretary of Health and Human Services determines 
to be reasonable (which rates shall include payment for the costs of 
obtaining, verifying, maintaining, and comparing the information).
    ``(b) Notification to Beneficiaries.--The Secretary shall notify 
each applicant for, or recipient of, a benefit or service specified in 
subsection (d) that income information furnished by the applicant to 
the Secretary may be compared with information obtained by the 
Secretary from the Secretary of Health and Human Services under 
subsection (a). The Secretary shall periodically transmit to recipients 
of such benefits additional notifications of such matters.
    ``(c) Independent Verification Required.--The Secretary may not, by 
reason of information obtained from the Secretary of Health and Human 
Services under subsection (a), terminate, deny, suspend, or reduce any 
benefit or service described in subsection (d) until the Secretary 
takes appropriate steps to verify independently information relating to 
employment and employment income.
    ``(d) Covered Benefits and Services.--The benefits and services 
specified in this subsection are the following:
            ``(1) Needs-based pension benefits provided under chapter 
        15 of this title or under any other law administered by the 
        Secretary.
            ``(2) Parents' dependency and indemnity compensation 
        provided under section 1315 of this title.
            ``(3) Health-care services furnished under subsections 
        (a)(2)(G), (a)(3), and (b) of section 1710 of this title.
            ``(4) Compensation paid under chapter 11 of this title at 
        the 100 percent rate based solely on unemployability and 
        without regard to the fact that the disability or disabilities 
        are not rated as 100 percent disabling under the rating 
        schedule.
    ``(e) Limitation With Respect to Individual Unemployability 
Cases.--In the case of compensation described in subsection (d)(4), the 
Secretary may independently verify or otherwise act upon wage or self-
employment information referred to in subsection (c) of this section 
only if the Secretary finds that the amount and duration of the 
earnings reported in that information clearly indicate that the 
individual is not qualified for a rating of total disability.
    ``(f) Opportunity to Contest Findings.--The Secretary shall inform 
the individual of the findings made by the Secretary on the basis of 
verified information under subsection (c), and shall give the 
individual an opportunity to contest such findings, in the same manner 
as applies to other information and findings relating to eligibility 
for the benefit or service involved.
    ``(g) Source of Funds for Administration of Section.--The Secretary 
shall pay the expenses of carrying out this section from amounts 
available to the Department for the payment of compensation and 
pension.
    ``(h) Termination of Authority.--The authority of the Secretary to 
obtain information from the Secretary of Health and Human Services 
under subsection (a) expires on September 30, 2010.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning of 
such chapter is amended by adding at the end the following new item:

``5320. Use of National Directory of New Hires for income verification 
                            purposes.''.
    (c) Effective Date.--Section 5320 of title 38, United States Code, 
as added by subsection (a), shall take effect 270 days after the date 
of the enactment of this Act.
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