[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2383 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2383

 To amend title 38, United States Code, to authorize the Secretary of 
 Veterans Affairs to use electronic communication to provide required 
    notice to claimants for benefits under laws administered by the 
                   Secretary, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 24, 2011

 Mr. Johnson of Ohio introduced the following bill; which was referred 
                 to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title 38, United States Code, to authorize the Secretary of 
 Veterans Affairs to use electronic communication to provide required 
    notice to claimants for benefits under laws administered by the 
                   Secretary, 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 ``Modernizing Notice to Claimants 
Act''.

SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF USE OF ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION TO PROVIDE 
              NOTICE TO CLAIMANTS FOR BENEFITS UNDER LAWS ADMINISTERED 
              BY THE SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIR.

    Section 5103 of title 38, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)(1)--
                    (A) by striking ``Upon receipt of a complete or 
                substantially complete application, the'' and inserting 
                ``The'';
                    (B) by striking ``notify'' and inserting ``provide 
                to''; and
                    (C) by inserting ``by the most expeditious means 
                available, including electronic communication or 
                notification in writing'' before ``of any 
                information''; and
            (2) in subsection (b), by adding at the end the following 
        new paragraphs:
    ``(4) Nothing in this section shall require the Secretary to 
provide notice for a subsequent claim that is filed while a previous 
claim is pending if the notice previously provided for such pending 
claim provides notice of the information and evidence necessary to 
substantiate such subsequent claim.
    ``(5) This section shall not apply to any claim or issue where the 
Secretary may award the benefit sought based on the evidence of 
record.''.

SEC. 3. DUTY TO ASSIST CLAIMANTS IN OBTAINING PRIVATE RECORDS.

    (a) In General.--Section 5103A(b) of title 38, United States Code, 
is amended to read as follows:
    ``(b) Assistance in Obtaining Private Records.--(1) As part of the 
assistance provided under subsection (a), the Secretary shall make 
reasonable efforts to obtain relevant private records if the claimant 
requests assistance, in a manner prescribed by the Secretary, in 
obtaining such records.
    ``(2)(A) Whenever the Secretary, after making such reasonable 
efforts, is unable to obtain all of the relevant records sought, the 
Secretary shall notify the claimant that the Secretary is unable to 
obtain records with respect to the claim. Such a notification shall--
            ``(i) identify the records the Secretary is unable to 
        obtain;
            ``(ii) briefly explain the efforts that the Secretary made 
        to obtain such records; and
            ``(iii) explain that the Secretary will decide the claim 
        based on the evidence of record but that this section does not 
        prohibit the submission of records at a later date if such 
        submission is otherwise allowed.
    ``(B) The Secretary shall make not less than two requests to a 
custodian of a private record in order for an effort to obtain relevant 
private records to be treated as reasonable under this section.
    ``(3) This section shall not apply if the evidence of record allows 
for the Secretary to award the benefit sought.
    ``(4) Under regulations prescribed by the Secretary, the Secretary 
shall encourage claimants to submit relevant private medical records of 
the claimant to the Secretary if such submission does not burden the 
claimant.
    ``(5) The claimant may waive any requirements under this 
section.''.
    (b) Public Records.--Section 5103A(c) of such title is amended to 
read as follows:
    ``(c) Obtaining Records for Compensation Claims.--(1) In the case 
of a claim for disability compensation, the assistance provided by the 
Secretary under this section shall include obtaining the following 
records if relevant to the claim:
            ``(A) The claimant's service medical records and, if the 
        claimant has furnished the Secretary information sufficient to 
        locate such records, other relevant records pertaining to the 
        claimant's active military, naval, or air service that are held 
        or maintained by a governmental entity.
            ``(B) Records of relevant medical treatment or examination 
        of the claimant at Department health-care facilities or at the 
        expense of the Department, if the claimant furnishes 
        information sufficient to locate those records.
            ``(C) Any other relevant records held by any Federal 
        department or agency that the claimant adequately identifies 
        and authorizes the Secretary to obtain.
    ``(2) Whenever the Secretary attempts to obtain records from a 
Federal department or agency under this subsection, the efforts to 
obtain those records shall continue until the records are obtained 
unless it is reasonably certain that such records do not exist or that 
further efforts to obtain those records would be futile.''.
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