[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 100 (Tuesday, July 15, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Page S7486]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. SPECTER:
  S. 1017. A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to establish a 
presumption of total disability for certain individuals for purposes of 
nonservice-connected disability pension; to the Committee on Veterans' 
Affairs.


                         VETERANS' LEGISLATION

  Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, as Chairman of the Committee on Veterans' 
Affairs, I have today introduced, at the request of the Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs, S. 1017, a proposed bill to establish a presumption 
of total disability for certain individuals for purposes of nonservice-
connected disability pension. The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
submitted this legislation to the President of the Senate by letter 
dated June 16, 1997.
  My introduction of this measure is in keeping with the policy which I 
have adopted of generally introducing--so that there will be specific 
bills to which my colleagues and others may direct their attention and 
comments--all administration-proposed draft legislation referred to the 
Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Thus, I reserve the right to support or 
oppose the provisions of, as well as any amendment to, this 
legislation.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record, together with the transmittal letter which 
accompanied it.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                S. 1017

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,
       That that portion of subsection (a) of section 1502 of 
     title 38, United States Code, preceding paragraph (1) is 
     amended to read as follows:
       ``(a) For purposes of this chapter, a person shall be 
     considered to be permanently and totally disabled if such 
     person is 65 years of age or older and is a patient in a 
     nursing home or, regardless of age, is unemployable as a 
     result of a disability reasonably certain to continue 
     throughout the life of the disabled person, or is suffering 
     from--''.
                                                                    ____



                            The Secretary of Veterans Affairs,

                                        Washington, June 16, 1997.
     Hon. Albert Gore,
     President of the Senate,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. President: Transmitted herewith is a draft bill to 
     amend section 1502(a) of title 38, United States Code, to 
     establish a presumption of total disability for certain 
     individuals for purposes of the nonservice-connected 
     disability pension program. I request that this draft bill be 
     referred to the appropriate committee for prompt 
     consideration and enactment.
       The draft bill would amend section 1502(a) of title 38, 
     United States Code, to establish a presumption of total 
     disability in the case of a person who is age 65 or older and 
     who is a patient in a nursing home, for purposes of 
     establishing basic eligibility under the Department of 
     Veterans Affairs' (VA) nonservice-connected disability 
     pension program.
       For many years, former section 502(a) (redesignated as 
     section 1502(a)) of title 38, United States Code, provided 
     that a person was presumed to be permanently and totally 
     disabled at age 65 for the purpose of establishing basic 
     pension eligibility. However, in 1990 Congress amended this 
     provision via the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 
     (Pub. L. No. 101-508, Sec. 8002) to eliminate the presumption 
     of total disability at age 65 for claims filed after October 
     31, 1990. Consequently, it is now necessary that a rating 
     decision be rendered on the issue of permanent and total 
     disability before pension can be paid to any person, 
     regardless of age or circumstances.
       Under current law, an incongruous situation arises in the 
     case of a pension claimant who is a patient in a nursing 
     home. Pursuant to 38 U.S.C. Sec. 1502(b), such a person would 
     be considered to be in need of regular aid and attendance (a 
     level of disability which assumes the existence of permanent 
     and total disability) and, therefore, entitled to pension at 
     a higher rate. Nonetheless, the person could not establish 
     eligibility for any pension until a determination is made 
     through a rating activity that the person is permanently and 
     totally disabled. Consequently, under current law, if an 85-
     year old veteran in a nursing home were to file an 
     original pension claim, it would still be necessary to 
     prepare a rating decision on the issue of permanent and 
     total disability to establish the veterans' basic pension 
     eligibility under section 1502(a), although the veteran 
     would, once determined to be eligible, be considered under 
     section 1502(b) to be eligible for a higher payment of 
     pension based on the need for regular aid and attendance.
       Enactment of the proposed amendment to section 1502(a) 
     would be advantageous to VA and to claimants for pension and 
     other benefits administered by VA. Processing times for 
     original and reopened pension claims would be reduced because 
     development of medical evidence of a nursing home patient's 
     level of disability would no longer be necessary. This 
     improvement in efficiency would have a salutary effect on the 
     processing of other types of claims because rating 
     specialists and development personnel would have more time to 
     devote to other activities, including adjudication of 
     service-connected disability compensation claims.
       The proposed amendment would not threaten the integrity of 
     the pension program. An individual age 65 years or older who 
     is a patient in a nursing home would almost certainly qualify 
     as being permanently and totally disabled under 38 U.S.C. 
     Sec. 1502(a) as it is currently worded. The likelihood that 
     such an individual would eventually leave the nursing home is 
     slim. However, procedures are already in place for 
     reevaluating aid and attendance entitlement when a notice of 
     discharge from a nursing home is received in the case of a 
     veteran whose aid and attendance benefit is based on nursing-
     home-patient status. These procedures will be adapted to 
     require a rating decision upon a person's discharge from a 
     nursing home if the basic eligibility determination was 
     premised on the person's status as a patient in a nursing 
     home.
       Enactment of this proposal would merely speed the 
     processing of claims of persons who would otherwise qualify 
     for pension.
       This draft bill would affect direct spending; therefore, it 
     is subject to the pay-as-you-go requirement of the Omnibus 
     Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990. The Office of Management 
     and Budget (OMB) estimates that the pay-as-you-go effect of 
     this proposal is zero.
       OMB advises that there is no objection from the standpoint 
     of the Administration's program to the submission of this 
     proposal to Congress.
           Sincerely yours,
                                                      Jesse Brown.
                                 ______