[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1980 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1980

  To amend title 38, United States Code, to prohibit the Secretary of 
  Veterans Affairs from requesting additional medical examinations of 
  veterans who have submitted sufficient medical evidence provided by 
 non-Department medical professionals and to improve the efficiency of 
processing certain claims for disability compensation by veterans, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 14, 2013

 Mr. Walz (for himself, Mr. Denham, Mr. Jones, Ms. Frankel of Florida, 
  Mr. Barber, Ms. Esty, Ms. Kuster, and Mr. O'Rourke) introduced the 
   following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans' 
                                Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend title 38, United States Code, to prohibit the Secretary of 
  Veterans Affairs from requesting additional medical examinations of 
  veterans who have submitted sufficient medical evidence provided by 
 non-Department medical professionals and to improve the efficiency of 
processing certain claims for disability compensation by veterans, 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 ``Quicker Veterans Benefits Delivery 
Act''.

SEC. 2. TREATMENT OF MEDICAL EVIDENCE PROVIDED BY NON-DEPARTMENT OF 
              VETERANS AFFAIRS MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS IN SUPPORT OF 
              CLAIMS DISABILITY COMPENSATION.

    (a) In General.--Section 5103A(d) of title 38, United States Code, 
is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
    ``(3) During the six-year period beginning on the date of the 
enactment of this paragraph, the Secretary may not request a medical 
examination under paragraph (1) in the case of a claim for disability 
compensation in support of which a claimant submits medical evidence 
provided by a non-Department medical professional, including a non-
Department medical opinion, that is competent, credible, probative, and 
otherwise adequate for purposes of making a decision on the claim.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
apply with respect to medical evidence submitted after the date that is 
90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 3. IMPROVEMENT OF DISABILITY CLAIMS PROCESSING.

    (a) Prestabilization Rates.--Section 1156 of title 38, United 
States Code, is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as subsections 
        (e) and (f), respectively; and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the following new 
        subsection (c):
    ``(c) Prestabilization Rates.--During the six-year period beginning 
on the date of the enactment of this subsection, in assigning to a 
veteran a prestabilization rating pursuant to section 4.28 of title 38, 
Code of Federal Regulations, (or successor regulation), the Secretary 
shall assign such a rating at the level of total, 50 percent, or 30 
percent, as determined appropriate by the Secretary.''.
    (b) Temporary Minimum Rates.--Section 1156 of title 38, United 
States Code, is further amended by inserting after subsection (c), as 
added by subsection (a), the following new subsection (d):
    ``(d) Temporary Minimum Rates.--During the six-year period 
beginning on the date of the enactment of this subsection, the 
Secretary shall assign a temporary minimum disability rating to a 
veteran who--
            ``(1) has one or more disabilities not covered under 
        subsection (a); and
            ``(2) submits a claim for such disability that has 
        sufficient evidence to support a minimum disability rating.''.
    (c) Reporting of Claims Backlog.--During the six-year period 
beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs shall not include any veteran to whom the Secretary 
has assigned a pre-stabilization rating under subsection (c) of section 
1156 of such title, as added by subsection (a), or a temporary minimum 
disability rating under subsection (d) of such section, as added by 
subsection (b), in any count of the backlog of disability ratings to be 
assigned by the Secretary.
    (d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall take 
effect on the date that is 90 days after the date of the enactment of 
this Act and shall apply with respect to claims for disability 
compensation filed on or after that date.

SEC. 4. TIMING OF MONTHLY PAYMENTS OF BENEFITS UNDER THE LAWS 
              ADMINISTERED BY THE SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.

    (a) In General.--Section 5120(e) of title 38, United States Code, 
is amended--
            (1) by striking ``Whenever'' and inserting ``(1) 
        Whenever''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
    ``(2) During the six-year period beginning on the date of the 
enactment of this paragraph, the Secretary shall certify benefit 
payments for any calendar month in such a way that such payments will 
be delivered by mail, or transmitted for credit to the payee's account 
pursuant to subsection (d) of this section, before the first day of the 
calendar month for which such payments are issued.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a) shall 
apply with respect to a calendar month that begins after the date that 
is 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.
                                 <all>