[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4335 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4335

To amend title 38, United States Code, to clarify that the estate of a 
deceased veteran may receive certain accrued benefits upon the death of 
 the veteran, to ensure that substituted claims are processed timely, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 27, 2014

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to clarify that the estate of a 
deceased veteran may receive certain accrued benefits upon the death of 
 the veteran, to ensure that substituted claims are processed timely, 
                        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 ``Veteran Families Fairness Act''.

SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION OF ELIGIBLE RECIPIENTS OF CERTAIN ACCRUED 
              BENEFITS UPON DEATH OF BENEFICIARY.

    (a) Treatment of Estate.--
            (1) Eligible recipient.--Section 5121(a)(2) of title 38, 
        United States Code, is amended--
                    (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by 
                inserting ``, or estate,'' after ``person''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following new 
                subparagraph:
                    ``(D) The estate of the veteran (unless the estate 
                will escheat).''.
            (2) Substitution in case of death of claimant.--Section 
        5121A(a)(1) of such title is amended--
                    (A) by inserting ``, or estate,'' after ``a living 
                person''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following new 
                sentence: ``The Secretary shall process a claim of such 
                a substituted claimant by recognizing the original 
                filing date of the claim and without penalty to the 
                priority of the claim.''.
            (3) Outreach.--
                    (A) The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall 
                identify deceased veterans whom the Secretary 
                determines meet the following criteria:
                            (i) The veteran died before--
                                    (I) the date of the enactment of 
                                this Act; and
                                    (II) being able to receive periodic 
                                monetary benefits under laws 
                                administered by the Secretary to which 
                                the veteran was entitled or had filed a 
                                claim to receive.
                            (ii) Such benefits were not paid to an 
                        individual described in section 5121 of title 
                        38, United States Code, or such claim was not 
                        substituted under section 5121A of such title.
                            (iii) If the amendments made by paragraphs 
                        (1) and (2) were in effect on the date of the 
                        death of the individual, such benefits could 
                        have been paid to the estate of the veteran 
                        under section 5121 of title 38, United States 
                        Code, or such claim could have been substituted 
                        by the estate under section 5121A of such 
                        title.
                    (B) The Secretary shall notify the estate of each 
                veteran identified under subparagraph (A) of the 
                ability of the estate to apply for payments under 
                section 5121 of title 38, United States Code, as 
                amended by paragraph (1) or apply to act as a 
                substituted claimant under section 5121A of such title, 
                as amended by paragraph (2). In determining such 
                applications, the Secretary shall substitute ``the date 
                on which the estate was notified of the eligibility of 
                the estate to apply under this section'' for--
                            (i) ``the date of death'' in subsection (c) 
                        of such section 5121; and
                            (ii) ``the date of the death of such 
                        claimant'' in subsection (a) of such section 
                        5121A.
            (4) Application.--In accordance with paragraph (3), the 
        amendments made by subsection (a) and (b) shall apply with 
        respect to the death of an individual regardless of the date of 
        such death.
    (b) Reimbursements.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall--
            (1) reimburse a claimant who is awarded a claim for 
        compensation under title 38, United States Code, including an 
        individual or estate under section 5121 and section 5121A of 
        such title, as amended by this section, for costs that--
                    (A) relate to the medical treatment of the 
                claimant;
                    (B) were charged to the claimant during the period 
                beginning on the date on which the claim was filed and 
                ending on the date of such award; and
                    (C) would have been paid by the Secretary, or such 
                treatment would have been provided by the Secretary, if 
                such treatment occurred after the date of such award; 
                and
            (2) recommend to each claimant, upon the filing of the 
        claim, to retain receipts and other documentation relating to 
        costs described in paragraph (1).
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