[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 180 (Monday, November 6, 2017)]
[House]
[Pages H8505-H8507]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             VETERANS CARE FINANCIAL PROTECTION ACT OF 2017

  Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
pass the bill (H.R. 3122) to protect individuals who are eligible for 
increased pension under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs on the basis of need of regular aid and attendance from 
dishonest, predatory, or otherwise unlawful practices, and for other 
purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 3122

       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 Care Financial 
     Protection Act of 2017''.

     SEC. 2. SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS NOTICE OF DISHONEST, 
                   PREDATORY, OR OTHERWISE UNLAWFUL PRACTICES 
                   TARGETING INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE ELIGIBLE FOR 
                   INCREASED PENSION ON BASIS OF NEED FOR REGULAR 
                   AID AND ATTENDANCE.

       (a) Notice Required.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
     shall include on the internet website of the Department of 
     Veterans Affairs a warning to veterans relating to dishonest, 
     predatory, or otherwise unlawful practices targeting 
     individuals who are eligible for increased pension under 
     chapter 15 of title 38, United States Code, on the basis of 
     need for regular aid and attendance.
       (b) GAO Study.--
       (1) Study required.--Not later than 18 months after the 
     date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of 
     the United States shall complete a study on financial 
     exploitation of veterans. Such study shall include--
       (A) an analysis of the types of standards used by Federal 
     and State agencies intended to protect vulnerable populations 
     from financial exploitation; and
       (B) an analysis of the types of financial exploitation 
     facing veterans who are eligible for increased pension under 
     chapter 15 of title 38, United States Code, on the basis of 
     need for regular aid and attendance and any gaps in efforts 
     to address these issues.
       (2) Reports.--
       (A) Preliminary report.--Not later than one year after the 
     date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 
     shall submit to Congress a preliminary report on the study 
     required under paragraph (1).
       (B) Final report.--Not later than 18 months after the date 
     of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall 
     submit to Congress a final report on such study.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Tennessee (Mr. Roe) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Takano) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Tennessee.


                             General Leave

  Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their 
remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 3122, as amended.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Tennessee?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 3122, as amended, the 
Veterans Care Financial Protection Act.
  Mr. Speaker, VA offers an additional pension benefit called Aid and 
Attendance, or A&A, to some disabled or elderly veterans who need help 
with activities of daily living such as dressing or bathing.
  It may come as a shock to many Americans, but there are people out 
there who actually take advantage of elderly and disabled veterans by 
charging them money to help them apply for A&A benefits when the 
application process is free. If veterans need help

[[Page H8506]]

filling out the application, veterans service organizations like The 
American Legion, Disabled American Veterans, VFW, and others will help, 
at no charge, even if the veteran is not a member of the organization.
  Unfortunately, there are many veterans who don't know that the free 
help is available and, more importantly, that it is illegal to charge 
them a dime to file a claim. So some veterans may end up falling prey 
to these dishonest individuals.
  H.R. 3122 would help educate veterans and their families by requiring 
VA to post warnings on its website about scammers who actually take 
money from our Nation's most vulnerable veterans for a service that 
should be free.
  The bill would also require GAO to conduct a study and submit a 
report to Congress on how to better protect vulnerable veterans from 
being taken advantage of.
  With that, Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to join me in 
supporting H.R. 3122, as amended, and I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 3122, as amended, 
the Veterans Care Financial Protection Act of 2017, and thank the 
bill's sponsor, the congressman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Cartwright), for 
introducing it.
  Veterans who served during wartime, and their spouses, may be 
eligible to receive pension benefits if they meet certain income and 
other eligibility requirements. Such veterans and survivors may also be 
eligible for additional financial benefits, known as Aid and 
Attendance, if the applicant needs assistance performing personal 
functions required in everyday living such as bathing, feeding, and 
dressing.
  Now, VA does not charge veterans and their families to apply for Aid 
and Attendance benefits. In addition, veterans service organizations, 
such as The American Legion and VFW, offer free assistance to veterans 
and their families who wish to apply for this benefit.
  Yet, in all parts of the country, some individuals attempt to charge 
fees for helping veterans apply for Aid and Attendance benefits. 
According to organizations, such as AARP and the Federal Trade 
Commission, senior veterans have increasingly become subject to scams 
involving insurance agents and financial planners trying to convince 
veterans to make quick decisions about pursuing Aid and Attendance in 
addition to their pension incomes. Some scammers use false 
representations such as suggesting automatic entitlement to benefits.
  Of greater concern, though, are those who help the veteran 
restructure financial assets in order to qualify for pension and/or Aid 
and Attendance. For example, moving financial assets into a pooled-
asset irrevocable trust might render a veteran eligible for pension and 
Aid and Attendance, despite having assets in excess of the qualifying 
income thresholds.
  While it appears that this would benefit the veteran, what these 
salesmen do not tell them is that this type of restructuring might 
preclude them from Medicaid eligibility because of rules such as a 5-
year look-back period, which considers whether one has moved 
substantial assets at less than market value.
  H.R. 3122, as amended, would require that VA post warnings on its 
website about dishonest individuals who would charge fees to this very 
vulnerable group of veterans and their families to help beneficiaries 
apply for pension with Aid and Attendance benefits.
  Now, this bill would also require GAO to submit a report to Congress 
on the types of standards used by Federal and State agencies intended 
to protect vulnerable populations from financial exploitation, an 
analysis of the types of financial exploitation facing veterans who are 
eligible for Aid and Attendance benefits, and any other gaps and 
efforts to address these issues.
  H.R. 3122, the Veterans Care Financial Protection Act, enjoys broad 
bipartisan support in the House of Representatives as well as from our 
veterans service organizations. I want to also acknowledge the work of 
the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs Chairman 
Mike Bost and Ranking Member Elizabeth Esty for their efforts to 
protect veterans.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I 
reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Cartwright).
  Mr. CARTWRIGHT. Mr. Speaker, with Veterans Day approaching rapidly, I 
find it particularly fitting that we raise this important issue today, 
an issue affecting our veterans that should concern all of us here in 
the Congress.
  As Americans, we enter into a moral covenant with our armed services, 
with the men and women warfighters that we send into harm's way. It is 
a covenant that says: you do this for us, and we will take care of you 
when the time comes, when you need us. It is a covenant that our 
honoring is of paramount importance, and there is no one here in the 
people's House who wants to turn his or her back on that covenant.

  As part of this enduring covenant and commitment to those who have 
served our Nation, the VA provides, as has been mentioned, a modest Aid 
and Attendance benefit to low-income veterans in need of our support. 
It is a benefit that helps pay for assisted living and in-home personal 
care for veterans who qualify for VA pension and are homebound or 
require the aid and assistance of another person.
  Unfortunately, as Dr. Roe mentioned, a number of unscrupulous scam 
artists are out there taking advantage of this commitment and this 
benefit provided to our veterans. They abuse the VA system by 
deliberately misleading our veterans into thinking they have to pay 
application fees, into creating damaging irrevocable trusts, into 
paying extra fees for so-called expediting these applications when no 
such expediting is available, and for paying any fees at all when, as 
has been mentioned, the veterans service organizations do it for free.
  Practices such as these leave vulnerable, elderly veterans with few 
choices outside of draining their own remaining assets. My bill, the 
Veterans Care Financial Protection Act of 2017, is a bipartisan, 
commonsense approach that will direct Federal agencies to work with the 
States and outside experts to establish standards that will prevent 
this kind of exploitation of our veterans and protect them from 
dishonest, predatory, or otherwise unlawful practices relating to the 
A&A benefit, and it will require a report from the Government 
Accountability Office to conduct a study and report to Congress on how 
better to protect veterans from these scam artists.
  Mr. Speaker, we owe our veterans, who have made great sacrifices for 
all of us, the protection and benefits that they deserve, and, as such, 
I urge a ``yes'' vote on this bill.
  I want to thank the chairman of the VA committee, Dr. Roe from 
Tennessee; its ranking member, Mr. Walz from Minnesota; and the entire 
Veterans' Affairs Committee for taking up this bill. And I would also 
like to thank, over in the Senate, Senator Warren, for her hard work on 
this bill in the Senate as well.
  Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I want to associate my remarks to 
the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Cartwright). He is absolutely 100 
percent correct. To have a vulnerable veteran, an elderly veteran in 
need who served this country, maybe in World War II, Korea, Vietnam, 
and then to have them taken advantage of is incomprehensible to me.
  Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I am prepared to close. 
I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and again, I 
strongly support H.R. 3122, as amended, and urge my colleagues to do 
the same.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, once again, I encourage all 
Members to support this needed legislation, and I yield back the 
balance of my time.
  THE SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Roe) that the House suspend the rules and 
pass the bill, H.R. 3122, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the

[[Page H8507]]

rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  The title of the bill was amended so as to read: ``A bill to direct 
the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to include on the internet website of 
the Department of Veterans Affairs a warning regarding dishonest, 
predatory, or otherwise unlawful practices targeting individuals who 
are eligible for increased pension on the basis of need for regular aid 
and attendance, and for other purposes.''.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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