[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3047 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3047

  To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the processing of 
claims for benefits administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 16, 2007

 Mr. Lamborn (for himself, Mr. Stupak, Mr. Buchanan, Mr. Boozman, Ms. 
Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, Mr. Brown of South Carolina, Mr. Hayes, 
  Mr. Davis of Illinois, Mr. Manzullo, Mr. Graves, Mr. Bilirakis, Mr. 
English of Pennsylvania, Mrs. Christensen, and Mr. Fortuno) introduced 
 the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans' 
                                Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the processing of 
claims for benefits administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, 
                        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. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Veterans Claims Processing 
Innovation Act of 2007''.

SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF WORK CREDIT SYSTEM FOR REGIONAL OFFICES OF 
              VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION.

    (a) Establishment of System.--Chapter 7 of title 38, United States 
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new section:
``Sec. 713. Veterans Benefits Administration work credit system
    ``(a) Establishment.--The Secretary shall establish a work credit 
system for evaluating regional offices of the Veterans Benefits 
Administration.
    ``(b) Credit for Claims.--Under the system established under 
subsection (a), a regional office of the Veterans Benefits 
Administration may only receive work credit for a claim assigned to 
that regional office when the appellate period for the claim has 
expired or the Board of Veterans Appeals has issued a final decision 
with respect to the claim.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning of 
such chapter is amended by adding at the end the following new item:

``713. Veterans Benefits Administration work credit system.''.

SEC. 3. ELECTRONIC PROCESSING OF CLAIMS FOR BENEFITS ADMINISTERED BY 
              SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.

    (a) Electronic Processing of Claims.--
            (1) In general.--Subtitle I of chapter 51 of title 38, 
        United States Code, as amended by section 3, is further amended 
        by adding at the end the following new section:
``Sec. 5109C. Electronic processing of claims
    ``(a) System Required.--The Secretary shall develop and maintain a 
system for processing claims for disability compensation under this 
title using artificial intelligence. Such system shall use medical and 
military service data to generate recommendations with respect to 
disability ratings.
    ``(b) Quarterly Reports.--During the period beginning on the date 
that is 90 days after the date of the enactment of this section and 
ending on the last day of the first full fiscal year after the fiscal 
year during which the regional office required under section 351(c) of 
this title is fully operational, the Secretary shall submit to the 
Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and House of 
Representatives quarterly reports on the status of the system required 
under subsection (a) and the regional office required under such 
section.''.
            (2) Clerical amendment.--The table of sections at the 
        beginning of such chapter is amended by adding at the end the 
        following new item:

``5109C. Electronic processing of claims.''.
    (b) Regional Office.--Section 315 of title 38, United States Code, 
is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(c) The Secretary shall maintain a regional office at which all 
claims for benefits under this title are processed exclusively 
electronically. At such regional office, the Secretary shall--
            ``(1) maintain the system based on artificial intelligence 
        required under section 5109C of this title; and
            ``(2) electronically scan all files created by or submitted 
        to such office that relate to claimants or claims for such 
        benefits.''.
    (c) Deadline for Implementation.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
shall establish a plan for establishing the regional office required 
under subsection (c) of section 315 of title 38, United States Code, as 
added by subsection (b), by not later than 90 days after the date of 
the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 4. TREATMENT OF BENEFICIARY OF VETERAN'S ACCRUED BENEFITS AS 
              CLAIMANT FOR PURPOSES OF INCOMPLETE CLAIMS AS OF DEATH OF 
              VETERAN.

    (a) In General.--Section 5102 of title 38, United States Code, is 
amended by added at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(d) If a veteran who is a claimant dies before completing the 
submission of a claim for any benefit under a law administered by the 
Secretary, the person who would receive any accrued benefits due to the 
veteran under section 5121(a)(2) of this title shall be treated as the 
claimant for the purposes of completing the submission of the claim.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--Subsection (d) of section 5102 of title 38, 
United States Code, shall apply with respect to the claim of any 
veteran who dies on or after the date of the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 5. EVALUATION OF TRAINING AND ASSESSMENT PROGRAMS FOR EMPLOYEES OF 
              VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION.

    (a) Evaluation Required.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall 
enter into a contract with a private entity with experience evaluating 
quality assurance and benefits programs under which that entity shall--
            (1) conduct an evaluation of the items required to be 
        included in the annual report of the Secretary under section 
        7734 of title 38, United States Code, that were included in the 
        last such report submitted before the date of the enactment of 
        this Act, that relate to the training and performance 
        assessment programs of the Department of Veterans Affairs for 
        employees of the Veterans Benefits Administration who are 
        responsible for matters relating to compensation or pension 
        benefits under the laws administered by the Secretary; and
            (2) submit to the Secretary the results of such evaluation 
        not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this 
        Act.
    (b) Submission of Results to Congress.--Not later than 180 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, In the first annual report 
required to be submitted to Congress under section 529 of title 38, 
United States Code, submitted after the date on which the Secretary 
receives the results of the evaluation required under subsection (a), 
the Secretary shall include such results.
    (c) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date on which the 
Secretary submits the report referred to in subsection (b), the 
Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on any actions the 
Secretary has taken or plans to take in response to the results of the 
evaluation required under subsection (a).
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