[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 935 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 935

  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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 13, 2013

  Mr. Franken introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
             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 of 2013''.

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 the Quicker Veterans Benefits Delivery Act of 2013, 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 the Quicker Veterans Benefits Delivery 
Act of 2013, 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 the Quicker Veterans Benefits 
Delivery Act of 2013, 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 the Quicker Veterans Benefits Delivery Act of 2013, the 
Secretary may 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.
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