[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7919 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7919

To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for certain revisions 
 to the manual of the Veterans Benefits Administration and to improve 
 the quality of the adjudication of claims for benefits under the laws 
   administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 10, 2024

Mr. Luttrell (for himself, Ms. Stefanik, and Mr. Bilirakis) introduced 
 the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans' 
                                Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for certain revisions 
 to the manual of the Veterans Benefits Administration and to improve 
 the quality of the adjudication of claims for benefits under the laws 
   administered 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 ``Veterans Claims Quality Improvement 
Act of 2024''.

SEC. 2. REVIEW OF CERTAIN REVISIONS TO MANUALS OF VETERANS BENEFITS 
              ADMINISTRATION REQUIRED; TRAINING PROGRAM FOR CERTAIN 
              EMPLOYEES OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.

    (a) In General.--Section 311 of title 38, United States Code, is 
amended--
            (1) by striking ``There is in the Department'' and 
        inserting ``(a) In General.--There is in the Department''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subsections:
    ``(b) Review of Revisions to Certain Manuals.--With respect to any 
revisions to the manuals of the Veterans Benefits Administration for 
the adjudication of a claim for benefits under the laws administered by 
the Secretary that would have a material effect on such adjudication, 
the General Counsel shall review such revision.
    ``(c) Program for Training.--The General Counsel shall develop and 
carry out a program to provide employees of the Veterans Benefits 
Administration who are responsible for drafting rules, guidance, or 
other issuances of the Veterans Benefits Administration training on 
such rules, guidance, or other issuances that--
            ``(1) would have a material effect on the adjudication of a 
        claim for benefits under the laws administered by the 
        Secretary; or
            ``(2) require review by the General Counsel.''.
    (b) Study and Report on Certain OGC Opinions.--
            (1) Study.--Not later than one year after the date of the 
        enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, in 
        consultation with the General Counsel of the Department of 
        Veterans Affairs and the Chairman of the Board of Veterans' 
        Appeals, shall complete a study to identify issues about which 
        an opinion from the General Counsel of the Department would 
        foster consistency in the decisions of the Secretary with 
        respect to claims for benefits under the laws administered by 
        the Secretary.
            (2) Report.--Not later than one year after the date of the 
        enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall 
        submit to the Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the House of 
        Representatives a report that contains the findings of the 
        study required by paragraph (1).

SEC. 3. IMPROVEMENTS TO SYSTEM FOR ADJUDICATION OF CLAIMS FOR BENEFITS 
              UNDER LAWS ADMINISTERED BY SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.

    (a) Program for Quality Assurance in Decisions of Board of 
Veterans' Appeals; Performance Reviews.--
            (1) In general.--Section 7101 of title 38, United States 
        Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new 
        subsection:
    ``(f)(1) The Chairman shall carry out a program to ensure quality 
in the decisions of the Board. Under such program, the Chairman shall--
            ``(A) develop policies and procedures for--
                    ``(i) measuring quality in such decisions;
                    ``(ii) maintaining data on--
                            ``(I) errors in such decisions; and
                            ``(II) errors in decisions remanded or 
                        returned to the Board by the Court of Appeals 
                        for Veterans Claims; and
                    ``(iii) ensuring any such decision of the Board to 
                remand a claim for a benefit under a law administered 
                by the Secretary is necessary under any applicable law 
                or regulation;
            ``(B) with respect to a claim for such a benefit that is 
        remanded to the Board by the Court of Appeals for Veterans 
        Claims--
                    ``(i) inform any employee of the Board responsible 
                for drafting the decision of the Board with respect to 
                such claim that such decision was remanded;
                    ``(ii) provide any such employee with a copy of the 
                relevant order of the Court of Appeals for Veterans 
                Claims (including a copy of any accompanying joint 
                motion for remand); and
                    ``(iii) provide incentives to such employees to 
                review such relevant orders and joint motions for 
                remand; and
            ``(C) ensure, to the maximum extent practicable, that any 
        error identified by the Board under such program is corrected 
        before the date on which the Board issues the final decision 
        associated with such error.
    ``(2) The Secretary shall submit to the Committees on Veterans' 
Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Senate an annual report 
on the program required by this subsection that includes, with respect 
to the period covered by the report, an identification of--
            ``(A) elements, if any of the process of the Board for 
        reviewing an appeal under this chapter that lead to errors in 
        decisions of the Board; and
            ``(B) the most common reasons that a claim for a benefit 
        under a law administered by the Secretary was remanded to such 
        Board by the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.''.
            (2) Deadline.--The Secretary shall submit the first report 
        required by paragraph (2) of such section (as added by 
        paragraph (1)) by not later than one year after the date of the 
        enactment of this Act.
    (b) Training Program for Certain Employees of Board of Veterans' 
Appeals; Performance Reviews.--
            (1) Training program.--
                    (A) In general.--Chapter 71 of such title (as 
                amended by subsection (a)) is further amended by 
                inserting after section 7101A the following new 
                section:
``Sec. 7101B. Training program for Members of Board on timely and 
              correct adjudication of appeals
    ``(a) In General.--The Secretary, in conjunction with the Chairman 
of the Board of Veterans' Appeals, shall develop and carry out a 
program to provide Members of the Board training on timely and correct 
adjudication of appeals under this chapter.
    ``(b) Required Considerations.--In carrying out the program 
required by subsection (a), the Secretary shall consider the following:
            ``(1) Feedback, if any, from members of the Board and 
        covered employees with respect to such program.
            ``(2) Data on errors in decisions of the Board maintained 
        pursuant to the program for quality assurance required by 
        subsection (f) of section 7101 of this title.
            ``(3) Any decision of the Court of Appeals for Veterans 
        Claims to remand a claim for benefits under the laws 
        administered by the Secretary to the Board for further action, 
        including a joint motion to remand such claim.
    ``(c) Report.--The Secretary shall submit to the Committees on 
Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Senate an 
annual report on the program required by subsection (a) that includes a 
statement of the topics of training provided pursuant to this section, 
disaggregated by--
            ``(1) mandatory training; and
            ``(2) non-mandatory training.
    ``(d) Covered Employee Defined.--In this section, the term `covered 
employee' means an employee of the Board who is--
            ``(1) not a member of the Board; and
            ``(2) responsible for drafting decisions of the Board.''.
                    (B) Clerical amendment.--The table of sections at 
                the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting 
                after the item relating to section 7101A the following 
                new item:

        ``7101B. Training program for Members of Board on timely and 
                            correct adjudication of appeals.''.
            (2) Performance reviews of members of the board.--Section 
        7101A of such title (as amended by paragraph (1)) is amended--
                    (A) in subparagraph (B) of subsection (c)(1) by 
                striking ``not less often than once every three years'' 
                and inserting ``not less often than annually''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following new 
                subsection:
    ``(h)(1) With respect to any performance review of a covered 
employee, the Secretary may not consider the timeliness or quality of 
work of any Member of the Board.
    ``(2) In this section, the term `covered employee' has the meaning 
given such term in section 7101B of this title.''.
    (c) Decisions of Board To Remand.--
            (1) Information relating to decisions to remand.--Section 
        7104 of such title is amended in subsection (d)--
                    (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through (3) as 
                paragraphs (2) through (4), respsectively; and
                    (B) by inserting before paragraph (2) (as so 
                redesignated), the following new paragraph:
            ``(1) with respect to a claim that the Board remands for 
        further action, a statement of the specific reasons such claim 
        was remanded, including any failure on the part of the 
        Secretary to comply with--
                    ``(A) the Secretary's duty to assist under section 
                5103A of this title; and
                    ``(B) the Secretary's duty to notify under section 
                5103 of this title.''.
            (2) Notice of remanded decision for certain employees.--
        Such section is further amended in--
                    (A) subsection (e)--
                            (i) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through 
                        (3) as subparagraphs (A) through (C), 
                        respectively;
                            (ii) by striking ``After'' and inserting 
                        ``(1) After''; and
                            (iii) by adding at the end the following 
                        new paragraph:
    ``(2) If, pursuant to a decision on an appeal, the Board remands a 
claim for a benefit under a law administered by the Secretary for 
further action, the Secretary shall, to the maximum extent practicable, 
issue a copy of such decision to each employee of the Veterans Benefits 
Administration who committed the error resulting in the decision of the 
Board to remand, when applicable.''; and
                    (B) in subsection (f), by striking ``under 
                subsection (e)'' and inserting ``under paragraph (1) of 
                subsection (e)''.
    (d) Annual Reports for Board of Veterans' Appeals.--
            (1) In general.--Chapter 71 of such title 38, United States 
        Code, is amended by inserting after section 7113 the following 
        new section:
``Sec. 7114. Annual reports on Board of Veterans' Appeals
    ``(a) Report on Reasons for Remands.--The Chairman of the Board 
shall submit to the Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the House of 
Representatives and the Senate an annual report that includes, for each 
decision of the Board to remand a claim for a benefit under a law 
administered by the Secretary to the Secretary for further adjudication 
during the period covered by the report, a statement of the reasons for 
such decision of the Board, disaggregated by decisions on--
            ``(1) claims with a relevant decision dated on or after 
        February 19, 2019; and
            ``(2) claims with a relevant decision dated before such 
        date.
    ``(b) Report on Unnecessary Remands.--The Secretary, in 
consultation with the Chairman of the Board and the head of the Office 
of Administrative Review of the Veterans Benefits Administration, shall 
submit to Congress an annual report that includes a statement of the 
number of decisions of the Board to remand a claim for a benefit under 
a law administered by the Secretary to the Secretary for further action 
that the Secretary determines were unnecessary during the period 
covered by the report.''.
            (2) Deadlines.--The Secretary shall submit the first 
        reports required by subsections (a) and (b) of section 7114 of 
        title 38, United States Code (as added by paragraph (1)) by not 
        later than one year after the date of the enactment of this 
        Act.
    (e) Plan for Improvements to Quality in Decisions of Board.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than six months after the date 
        of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans 
        Affairs, in consultation with the Chairman of the Board of 
        Veterans' Appeals and the head of the Office of Administrative 
        Review of the Veterans Benefits Administration, shall develop a 
        plan to--
                    (A) improve the quality of decisions of the Board 
                to remand, pursuant to section 7104 of title 38, United 
                States Code, claims for a benefit under a law 
                administered by the Secretary to the Secretary for 
                further action; and
                    (B) mitigate the number of such decisions that are 
                unnecessary under any applicable law or regulation.
            (2) Report.--The Secretary shall submit to the Committees 
        on Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives and the 
        Senate a report on such plan by not later than six months after 
        the date of the enactment of this Act.
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