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119th CONGRESS
2d Session |
To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the Department of Veterans Affairs schedule for rating disabilities, and for other purposes.
Mr. Blumenthal (for himself, Ms. Duckworth, Mr. King, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Gallego, Mr. Sanders, and Ms. Baldwin) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs
To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the Department of Veterans Affairs schedule for rating disabilities, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
This Act may be cited as the “Carlton H. Ingram Veterans’ Benefits Protection Act”.
SEC. 2. Improvements to Department of Veterans Affairs schedule for rating disabilities.
Section 1155 of title 38, United States Code, is amended—
(1) in the first sentence, by striking “The Secretary” and inserting the following:
“(a) In general.—The Secretary”; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
“(b) Beneficial effects of medication or treatment.— (1) The schedule of ratings adopted and applied under subsection (a) shall be constructed to discount the beneficial effects of medication or treatment, when evidence can be used to establish a baseline without those beneficial effects.
“(2) Paragraph (1) shall not be construed to preclude a veteran from seeking compensation for additional disabilities resulting from medication or treatment for an underlying injury suffered or disease contracted in line of duty, or for aggravation of a preexisting injury suffered or disease contract in line of duty, in the active military, naval, air, or space service.”.