[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5448 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5448

   To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the disability 
compensation evaluation procedure of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
   for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, to improve the 
   diagnosis and treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder by the 
         Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 14, 2008

Mr. Allen (for himself and Mr. Michaud) 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 disability 
compensation evaluation procedure of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
   for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, to improve the 
   diagnosis and treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder 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 ``Full Faith in Veterans Act of 
2008''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Men and women who serve in the Armed Forces make great 
        sacrifices for the Nation and for freedom.
            (2) The Nation takes great pride in the integrity of 
        members of the Armed Forces and places full faith and 
        confidence in these men and women serving in the Armed Forces.
            (3) The Nation should extend such full faith to the 
        integrity of those men and women when they make claims for 
        disability compensation related to their service.
            (4) In the spirit of the Armed Forces' pledge never to 
        leave a man behind, the Nation should never leave a veteran 
        behind.
            (5) Military service is inherently dangerous and stressful 
        whether during peacetime or during war.
            (6) Post-traumatic stress disorder (referred to in this 
        section as ``PTSD'') is a debilitating mental health condition 
        linked to military service that the Secretary of Veterans 
        Affairs should make every effort to diagnose and effectively 
        treat.
            (7) It is recognized in the medical community that PTSD can 
        onset at anytime after a traumatic event, and the course of the 
        disorder can contain periods of both relapse and remission.
            (8) Denial by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs of claims 
        for disability compensation for PTSD due to incomplete military 
        records does a disservice to those who have honorably served 
        the country.
            (9) Military records that would validate such claims may 
        have been lost due to no fault of the veteran.
            (10) Due to the dangerous and fast-paced environment in 
        which the members of the Armed Forces operate, not every 
        significant and possibly traumatic incident in the life and 
        service of each member is chronicled accurately or completely.
            (11) Evaluations for disability compensation for PTSD often 
        place veterans under the additional hardship of reliving 
        traumatic events by describing them to unfamiliar medical 
        professionals.
            (12) According to the Institute of Medicine and 
        representatives of certain veterans' service organizations, 
        evaluations for pension and disability compensation for PTSD 
        are sometimes completed in as little as 20 minutes, despite 
        recommendations of the mental health community that evaluations 
        should take place over a period of one hour or more.
            (13) The Veterans' Disability Benefits Commission, 
        established pursuant to title XV of the National Defense 
        Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004, issued recommendations 
        to improve the care, compensation, and treatment of veterans 
        diagnosed with PTSD, including updating the schedule for rating 
        disabilities under section 1155 of title 38, United States 
        Code, establishing new criteria for the diagnosis and treatment 
        of PTSD, and using a holistic approach to treat veterans with 
        PTSD that incorporates treatment, compensation, and vocational 
        assessment.

SEC. 3. STANDARD OF PROOF FOR SERVICE-CONNECTION OF POST-TRAUMATIC 
              STRESS DISORDER.

    (a) Standard of Proof.--Section 1154 of title 38, United States 
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(c) The Secretary shall accept as sufficient proof of service-
connection of post-traumatic stress disorder alleged to have been 
incurred in or aggravated by service in the active military, naval, or 
air service a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder by a mental 
health professional together with a written determination by the 
professional that such disorder is related to the veteran's service, if 
consistent with the circumstances, conditions, or hardships of such 
service, notwithstanding the fact that there is no official record of 
such incurrence or aggravation in such service, and, to that end, shall 
resolve every reasonable doubt in favor of the veteran. Service-
connection of post-traumatic stress disorder may be rebutted by clear 
and convincing evidence to the contrary. In the case of such a 
rebuttal, the Secretary shall make all documents related to the 
service-connection of the veteran's disability available to the 
veteran.''.
    (b) Applicability.--Subsection (c) of section 1154 of title 38, 
United States Code, shall apply with respect to any claim for 
disability compensation under laws administered by the Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs for which no final decision has been made before the 
date of the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 4. IMPROVEMENT OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS EVALUATIONS OF 
              CLAIMS RELATING TO POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER.

    (a) Certification and Training for Certain Employees.--
            (1) Certification program.--
                    (A) Certification required.--The Secretary of 
                Veterans Affairs shall require covered employees to 
                successfully complete a certification program 
                established by the Secretary. Such program shall 
                include a periodic recertification requirement.
                    (B) Covered employees.--For the purposes of this 
                paragraph, a ``covered employee'' is an employee of the 
                Department of Veterans Affairs who is responsible for 
                rating disabilities, evaluating claims for disability 
                compensation for post-traumatic stress disorder, or 
                adjudicating disability compensation ratings.
                    (C) Program requirements.--The certification 
                program under subparagraph (A) shall--
                            (i) provide specialized training on the 
                        psychological and medical issues (including 
                        comorbidities) that characterize individuals 
                        with post-traumatic stress disorder and give 
                        guidance on how to appropriately manage 
                        commonly encountered problems in evaluating and 
                        rating such disorder; and
                            (ii) incorporate the recommendations 
                        contained in the Best Practice Manual for Post-
                        Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Compensation 
                        and Pension Examinations issued by the National 
                        Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder of 
                        the Department of Veterans Affairs.
                    (D) Review of requirements.--The Secretary shall 
                regularly review and update the requirements for 
                successfully completing the certification program under 
                subparagraph (A) to take into consideration medical 
                advances and to reflect lessons learned.
            (2) Training program.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
        shall provide training to support the certification program 
        required under paragraph (1).
    (b) Audits of Examinations.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
shall conduct audits of the examinations conducted by employees of the 
Department of Veterans Affairs of veterans who submit claims for 
disability compensation for post-traumatic stress disorder to ensure 
that such employees are taking sufficient time necessary to diagnose 
and accurately rate the disorder.
    (c) Update of Schedule for Rating Disabilities.--Not later than 90 
days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs shall begin updating the schedule for rating 
disabilities under section 1155 of title 38, United States Code. The 
Secretary shall begin by updating the schedule with respect to post-
traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, and other mental 
disorders. The Secretary shall complete such update not later than five 
years after the date of the enactment of this Act.
    (d) New Criteria for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.--The Secretary 
of Veterans Affairs shall implement the criteria of the Diagnostic and 
Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition, specific to post-
traumatic stress disorder and use such criteria for the purpose of 
rating post-traumatic stress disorder pursuant to the schedule for 
rating disabilities under section 1155 of title 38, United States Code.
    (e) Holistic Approach Required.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
shall implement a holistic approach for providing treatment for 
veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder. Such approach shall 
combine treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, compensation, and 
vocational assessment.
    (f) Treatment of Mental Health Records.--The Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs shall require an employee of the Department of Veterans Affairs 
who is responsible for adjudicating disability compensation ratings, in 
developing evidence for a claim for disability compensation to take 
into consideration the following:
            (1) In the case of a veteran who has visited a center for 
        the provision of readjustment counseling and related mental 
        health services under section 1712A of title 38, United States 
        Code, any treatment records of the veteran from that center.
            (2) In the case of a veteran who has received mental health 
        services from a mental health professional, any written opinion 
        of that mental health professional submitted to the Department 
        by the veteran.
    (g) Consideration of Certain Materials.--In carrying out 
subsections (c), (d), and (e), the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall 
consider materials on post-traumatic stress disorder and mental health 
provided by the National Center on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder of 
the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Institute of Medicine.
    (h) Employee.--For purposes of this section, the term ``employee of 
the Department of Veterans Affairs'' includes an employee of any entity 
with which the Secretary of Veterans Affairs has entered into a 
contract for the provision of conducting examinations or rating 
disabilities for purposes of determining the amount of disability 
compensation to be provided to a veteran under laws administered by the 
Secretary.

SEC. 5. REPORT TO CONGRESS.

    Not later than two years after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to Congress a 
report on the implementation of this Act and the amendments made by 
this Act. Such report shall include any evidence of fraud or abuse 
relating to any provision of this Act or amendment made by this Act.
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