[House Report 119-260]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
119th Congress } { Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session } { 119-260
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MODERNIZING ALL VETERANS AND SURVIVORS
CLAIMS PROCESSING ACT
_______
September 9, 2025.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on
the State of the Union and ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Bost, from the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, submitted the
following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 3854]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Veterans' Affairs, to whom was referred
the bill (H.R. 3854) to direct the Secretary of Veterans
Affairs to submit a plan to expand the use of certain
automation tools in the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for
other purposes, having considered the same, reports favorably
thereon with an amendment and recommends that the bill as
amended do pass.
CONTENTS
Page
Amendment........................................................ 2
Purpose and Summary.............................................. 3
Background and Need for Legislation.............................. 3
Hearings......................................................... 6
Subcommittee Consideration....................................... 7
Committee Consideration.......................................... 7
Committee Votes.................................................. 8
Committee Oversight Findings..................................... 8
Statement of General Performance Goals and Objectives............ 8
Earmarks and Tax and Tariff Benefits............................. 8
Committee Cost Estimate.......................................... 8
Budget Authority and Congressional Budget Office Estimate........ 8
Federal Mandates Statement....................................... 10
Advisory Committee Statement..................................... 11
Applicability to Legislative Branch.............................. 11
Statement on Duplication of Federal Programs..................... 11
Section-by-Section Analysis of the Legislation................... 11
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported............ 12
The amendment is as follows:
Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the
following:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Modernizing All Veterans and Survivors
Claims Processing Act''.
SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS ANNUAL REPORT ON CAUSES OF DEATH
AMONG VETERANS.
(a) In General.--Subchaper II of chapter 5 of title 38, United States
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new section:
``Sec. 534. Annual report on causes of death among veterans
``(a) In General.--The Secretary shall submit to the Committees on
Veterans'' Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Senate an
annual report that contains data and information on causes of death
among veterans.
``(b) Elements.--Such report shall include--
``(1) for each veteran that died during the period covered by
the report an identification of--
``(A) whether such veteran had a service-connected
disability rated as total;
``(B) the primary cause of death;
``(C) the secondary cause of death, if applicable;
and
``(D) the manner of death;
``(2) for each primary cause of death identified pursuant to
paragraph (1), a statement of the total number of veterans that
died from such primary cause of death during the period covered
by the report; and
``(3) for each manner of death identified pursuant to
paragraph (1), a statement of the total number of veterans that
died in such manner during the period covered by the report.
``(c) Sunset.--This section shall terminate on the date that is five
years after the date of the enactment of the Justice for America's
Veterans and Survivors Act of 2025.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning of
chapter 5 of such title is amended by inserting after the item relating
to section 533 the following new item:
``534. Annual report on causes of death among veterans'''.
SEC. 3. PLAN FOR USE OF AUTOMATION TOOLS TO PROCESS CLAIMS UNDER LAWS
ADMINISTERED BY THE SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.
(a) In General.--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 Senate and House of
Representatives the plan of the Secretary to make available, to the
maximum extent practicable, an automation tool described in subsection
(b) to elements of the Department of Veterans Affairs for the purpose
of processing claims under laws administered by the Secretary.
(b) Automation Tool Described.--An automation tool described in this
subsection is a technology developed for the Compensation Service of
the Veterans Benefits Administration that--
(1) automates the retrieval of the service record or health
records of a veteran;
(2) compiles evidence relevant to the determination of a
claim for benefits under laws administered by the Secretary;
(3) provides automated decision support relevant to such a
determination;
(4) automates information sharing between Federal agencies;
and
(5) assists in generating correspondence regarding such a
claim.
(c) Analysis.--In developing the plan required under subsection (a),
the Secretary shall conduct an analysis of each of the following:
(1) The feasibility and benefits of the use of an automation
tool described in subsection (b) by elements of the Department
for the purpose of processing claims under laws administered by
the Secretary.
(2) Any modification to an existing automation tool that
could render such tool usable for such purpose by such an
element.
(3) Any requirement of any such element pertaining to such
purpose that cannot be addressed by using an automation tool.
(4) The extent to which the technology offices of such
elements may need to collaborate with the technology office
responsible for developing an automation tool in the course of
the development and use of the tool by the element for such
purpose.
(5) A timeline for modifying and implementing any automation
tool for use by such elements for such purpose.
(d) Priority.--In providing an automation tool described in
subsection (b) to elements of the Department pursuant to the plan
required under subsection (a), the Secretary shall give priority to the
following elements:
(1) The Pension and Fiduciary Service of the Veterans
Benefits Administration.
(2) The Education Service of the Veterans Benefits
Administration.
(3) Program offices of the Veterans Benefits Administration,
as determined by the Secretary.
(4) The Debt Management Center.
(5) The Board of Veterans' Appeals.
SEC. 4. OTHER REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO TECHNOLOGY AT DEPARTMENT OF
VETERANS AFFAIRS.
(a) Automatic Notices Regarding Benefits for Certain Children of
Veterans.--
(1) In general.--Not later than one year after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs
shall implement policies, processes, and technological
capabilities, including in the National Work Queue (or
successor system), to ensure that, in the case of any covered
situation, a claims processors is made aware of, and assigned
to address, such covered situation.
(2) Definitions.--In this subsection:
(A) The term ``covered situation'' means--
(i) any increase in the amount of dependency
compensation paid to a beneficiary for a child
under the laws administered by the Secretary;
and
(ii) any educational assistance paid to the
child of a veteran under the laws administered
by the Secretary.
(B) The term ``child'' has the meaning given such
term in section 101(4)(A)(iii) of title 38, United
States Code.
(b) Correct Labeling of Documents.--Not later than one year after the
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the
Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and House of
Representatives a plan to ensure that documents in the Veterans
Benefits Management System (or any successor system) are correctly
labeled when such documents are uploaded, including when such documents
are labeled using automation tools.
SEC. 5. EXTENSION OF CERTAIN LIMITS ON PAYMENTS OF PENSION.
Section 5503(d)(7) of title 38, United States Code, is amended by
striking ``November 30, 2031'' and inserting ``January 31, 2032''.
Purpose and Summary
H.R. 3854, the ``Modernizing All Veterans and Survivors
Claims Processing Act,'' was introduced by Representative David
Valadao of California on June 9, 2025. This bill, as amended,
would require the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to
develop a plan to provide automation tools to support claims
processing, federal inter-agency data sharing, VA intra-agency
data sharing, and integrating auto-generated correspondence
into all Veterans Benefit Administration (VBA) offices. This
bill includes an amended version of H.R. 3627, the ``Justice
for America's Veterans and Survivors Act of 2025,'' introduced
by Representative Chuck Edwards, which would require VA to
submit a five-year, annual report to Congress on the cause and
manner of death among veterans who had a service-connected
disability rated as ``total.''
Background and Need for Legislation
Section 1: Short Title
This Act may be cited as the ``Modernizing All Veterans and
Survivors Claims Processing Act''.
Section 2: Department of Veterans Affairs Annual Report on Causes of
Death among Veterans
Currently, VA does not collect comprehensive data on the
causes and manner of death among veterans that have a service-
connected disability rated as total. This rating has
implications for veterans' survivors qualifying for dependency
and indemnity compensation, which is payable to surviving
spouses and children of a veteran who is entitled to receive,
or has been receiving VA compensation for a service-connected
disability rated as totally disabling with a continuous rating
for 10 years or more preceding death or continuously for 5
years immediately preceding the veteran's discharge.\1\
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\1\38 U.S.C. Sec. 1318.
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VA currently supports over 506,000 surviving spouses;
however, VA does not track the cause and manner of death of a
veteran who is rated totally disabled and cannot provide the
number who died from suicide, illness, combat-related-wounds,
training accidents, or other causes of death. This data is
crucial to ensure that VA programs designed to support
surviving families consider the circumstances and history of
those they serve.
During the June 24, 2025, legislative hearing at the
Committee on Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Disability
Assistance and Memorial Affairs, Mrs. Candance Wheeler, Senior
Director, Government and Legislative Affairs, Tragedy
Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), testified on the
importance of this data to surviving families:
``This type of data is critical to tailoring
programming for surviving families as well as research
into suicide prevention, toxic exposures, and illnesses
that have led to the tragic deaths of many veterans.
The Department of Defense (DoD) has been doing this for
many years, so it is logical to presume the VA can and
should do the same.''\2\
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\2\Candace Wheeler, Testimony of Tragedy Assistance Program for
Survivors (June 24, 2025), HHRG-119-VR09-Wstate-WheelerC-20250624.pdf
(House.gov).
To address this issue, this section would require VA to
publish an annual report for the next five years identifying
the primary cause and secondary cause, if applicable, and
manner of death among veterans with a service-connected
disability rated as total. It would also require VA to publish
the total numbers of deaths among this population of veterans
broken down by primary cause and manner of death.
The Committee believes that this section is important to
ensure that VA has an accurate picture of the physical and
mental challenges facing this population of veterans and their
families.
Section 3: Plan For Use of Automation Tools to Process Claims Under
Laws Administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs
VBA includes multiple program offices that process
different types of veterans' and survivors' claims for
benefits. Throughout the claims process, employees in these
program offices obtain extensive amounts of documentation to
support a pending claim. This process involves sending notice
letters to claimants, reviewing and analyzing large amounts of
evidence, and evaluating the evidence to render a decision.
To better streamline this process, VA has worked with
various artificial intelligence (AI) technology vendors to
automate certain tasks for VA's Compensation Service, which
processes veterans' claims for disability compensation. AI
tools exist that would automatically obtain, compile, and
extract documents and evidence related to veterans' disability
compensation claims. Additionally, AI tools may allow VA claims
processors to automate the process for drafting notice letters.
However, VA employees and veteran advocates report that
efficient and accurate processing of veterans' claims is
currently hindered by issues with the existing AI technology
that often mislabels automatically obtained documents in VA's
electronic claims processing system. Mislabeled documents can
cause a delay in a claims processor's ability to issue a
decision on a claim, which can cause already obtained evidence
to be mistakenly, manually reobtained. These errors waste VBA
resources and cause confusion among claims processors.
To address these issues and improve upon these
technological advancements, this section would direct VA to
submit a plan to Congress on how to develop a new tool, or
modify existing tools, to ensure tools utilized by the
Compensation Service would automate the retrieval of veteran's
service or health records, compile evidence relevant to a
veteran's claim, provide support to claims processors for
deciding a claim, automate information sharing between federal
agencies, and assist in generating correspondence.
Currently, AI tools have not been made available to program
offices that process other types of VA benefits claims,
including pension claims and survivor's benefits claims. As a
result, it can take VBA much longer to gather the relevant
evidence and issue decisions for those claims, leaving
survivors waiting for years before receiving a decision on a
claim for benefits.
During a June 24, 2025, legislative hearing, Mrs. Candance
Wheeler also stated: ``The VA's Disability Compensation Service
has access to more automation tools than the Pension and
Fiduciary Service, which has proven to help lower processing
times for veteran claimants. Expanding access to automation
tools for other VA subdivisions will help decrease processing
times and enhance accuracy.''\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\Candace Wheeler, Testimony of Tragedy Assistance Program for
Survivors (June 24, 2025), HHRG-119-VR09-Wstate-WheelerC-20250624.pdf
(House.gov).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
To address this issue, this section would direct the VA to
submit a plan for implementation of the new tool for use by the
Pension and Fiduciary Service, Education Service, VBA Program
offices, the Debt Management Center, and the Board of Veterans
Appeals.
The Committee believes that expanding the use of this new
tool is critical to ensuring that VBA automation tools are
efficiently and effectively utilized to adjudicate the benefits
claims of veterans, their families, and their survivors.
Section 4: Other Requirements Relating to Technology at Department of
Veterans Affairs
During a May 14, 2025, oversight hearing for the
Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs
titled, ``Waste & Delays: Examining VA's Improper Payments in
its Compensation and Pension Programs'' the Committee learned
that since 2017, VA has erroneously paid roughly $211.3 million
in benefits to veterans' dependents who concurrently received
both dependent child compensation and children's education
benefits by mistake.\4\ Under current law, a child receiving
education benefits is ineligible to receive dependency
compensation, at the same time.
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\4\https://veterans.house.gov/calendar/
eventsingle.aspx?EventID=6700.
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The Committee believes that these erroneous payments can be
attributed to VBA's lack of technology and procedures for
identifying beneficiaries that were receiving benefits from
both the VA's Compensation Service and Education Service. To
address this issue, this section would require VA to institute
polices, processes, and technology to ensure that claims
processors are assigned to address when a child of a veteran
erroneously receives both dependency compensation and education
assistance.
The Committee believes that it is critical to protect
taxpayer dollars by establishing policies, procedures, and
technology to properly administer VA benefits and prevent
overpayments.
Section 5: Extension of Certain Limits on Payments of Pension
Under current law (38 U.S.C. Sec. 5503(d)), the amount of
VA pension paid to a veteran with no spouse or child, a
veterans' surviving spouse with no child, or a veteran's child
who are admitted to a VA or Medicaid sponsored nursing facility
is capped at $90 a month. This section would cover the costs of
the other sections of this bill by extending this pension
limitation by two months to January 31, 2032. Because they
receive government sponsored care in a nursing home, these
pension beneficiaries do not require the full amount of pension
to cover their cost of living. The Committee believes this
short-term extension of the current limit on pension payments
is a reasonable way to cover the costs associated with the
other sections of this bill.
Hearings
On June 24, 2025, the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance
and Memorial Affairs held a legislative hearing on H.R. 3854
and other bills that were pending before the subcommittee.
The following witnesses testified:
The Honorable Mike Bost, U.S. House of
Representatives; The Honorable Elise Stefanik, U.S.
House of Representatives; The Honorable Julia Brownley,
U.S. House of Representatives; The Honorable Chuck
Edwards, U.S. House of Representatives; The Honorable
Tom Barrett, U.S. House of Representatives; The
Honorable Tim Kennedy, U.S. House of Representatives;
The Honorable Jahana Hayes, U.S. House of
Representatives; Mrs. Julie Guleff, Caregiver and
Surviving Spouse of Stephen Guleff, Vietnam Veteran;
Mr. Michael J. Wishnie, William O. Douglas Clinical
Professor of Law and Director, Veterans Legal Services
Clinic, Yale Law School; Ms. Candace Wheeler, Senior
Director, Government and Legislative Affairs, Tragedy
Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS); Mr. Evan
Deichert, Acting Deputy Vice Chairman, Board of
Veterans' Appeals, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs;
Mr. Kevin Friel, Executive Director, Pension &
Fiduciary Service, Veterans Benefits Administration,
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; Mr. James W. Smith
II, Deputy Executive Director, Policy and Procedures,
Compensation Service, Veterans Benefits Administration,
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; Dr. Colleen
Richardson, Executive Director, Caregiver Support
Program, Veterans Health Administration, U.S.
Department of Veterans Affairs; Colonel (Ret.) Tiffany
M. Wagner, USAF, Clerk of the Court, U.S. Court of
Appeals for Veterans Claims.
The following individuals and organizations submitted
statements for the record:
Gold Star Spouses of America; Veterans of Foreign
Wars; Vietnam Veterans of America; National
Organization of Veterans' Advocates; Disabled American
Veterans; Quality of Life Foundation; Jewish
Federations of North America; Paralyzed Veterans of
America; Administrative Conference of the United
States; Afikim Foundation; American Legion; Shiron
Collective; American Federation of Government
Employees; Republican Jewish Coalition; The Honorable
Debbie Wasserman Shultz of Florida; Jonah Platt in
their personal capacity; Shabbos Kestenbaum in their
personal capacity; John Ondrasik in their personal
capacity; Lizzy Savetsky in their personal capacity;
Aviva Klompas in their personal capacity; Lee Trink in
their personal capacity; Bethony Mandel in their
personal capacity; Iddo Goldberg in their personal
capacity; Liora Rezin their personal capacity; Jason
Greenblatt in their personal capacity; Sarah Stern in
their personal capacity; Nicole Neily in their personal
capacity; Adam Zimmerman in their personal capacity.
Subcommittee Consideration
On July 23, 2025, the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance
and Memorial Affairs was discharged from further consideration
of this legislation.
Committee Consideration
On July 23, 2025, the Full Committee met in an open markup
session with a quorum being present, to consider H.R. 3854, as
amended.
An amendment in the nature of a substitute to H.R.
3854 was offered by Chairman Bost to add a new section
that would include the amended text of H.R. 3627,
Justice for America's Veterans and Survivors Act of
2025, which would require the VA to submit an annual
report to Congress over the next five years on the
cause and manner of death among veterans who had a
service-connected disability rated as ``total.'' This
amendment in the nature of a substitute also removed
the provision requiring implementation of the
automation plan developed by the VBA. This amendment in
the nature of a substitute was agreed to by voice vote.
A motion by Ranking Member Takano to report H.R. 3854, as
amended, favorably to the House of Representatives was agreed
to by voice vote.
Committee Votes
In compliance with clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of
the House of Representatives, no recorded votes were taken on
amendments or in connection with ordering H.R. 3854, as
amended, reported to the House.
Committee Oversight Findings
In compliance with clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII and clause
(2)(b)(1) of rule X of the Rules of the House of
Representatives, the Committee's oversight findings and
recommendations are reflected in the descriptive portions of
this report.
Statement of General Performance Goals and Objectives
In accordance with clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the Rules
of the House of Representatives, the Committee's performance
goals and objectives of H.R. 3854, as amended, are to ensure
that VA collects comprehensive data on the cause and manner of
death of veterans with a disability rated as total, and
develops plans for automating aspects of the claims and appeals
process.
Earmarks and Tax and Tariff Benefits
H.R. 3854, as amended, does not contain any Congressional
earmarks, limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as
defined in clause 9 of rule XXI of the Rules of the House of
Representatives.
Committee Cost Estimate
The Committee adopts as its own the Congressional Budget
Office cost estimate on this measure.
Budget Authority and Congressional Budget Office
Cost Estimate
The bill would
Require the Department of Veterans Affairs
(VA) to annually report to the Congress on causes of
death among veterans
Direct VA to develop a plan to expand the
use of automation to process claims for certain
veterans' benefits
Require VA to update its information
technology system used to process claims for veterans'
benefits to automatically identify certain claims that
would not be allowed
Extend the reduction of pensions that VA
pays to veterans and survivors residing in Medicaid
nursing homes
Estimated budgetary effects would mainly stem from:
Updating information technology systems
Reducing VA pension payments
Bill summary: H.R. 3854 would require the Department of
Veterans Affairs (VA) to annually report on the causes of death
among veterans, and to develop a plan to make automation tools
more widely available for processing of claims for veterans'
benefits. The bill would further require VA to update its
information technology (IT) system used for processing benefits
claims to notify employees who process those claims of certain
circumstances when a claim would not be allowed. Finally, the
bill would extend the reduction of pension payments for
veterans and survivors who reside in Medicaid nursing homes.
Estimated Federal cost: The estimated budgetary effect of
H.R. 3854 is shown in Table 1. The costs of the legislation
fall within budget functions 550 (health) and 700 (veterans
benefits and services).
TABLE 1.--ESTIMATED BUDGETARY EFFECTS OF H.R. 3854
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By fiscal year, millions of dollars--
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2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 2034 2035 2025-2030 2025-2035
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DECREASES (-) IN DIRECT SPENDING
Estimated Budget Authority................ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -8 0 0 0 0 -8
Estimated Outlays......................... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -8 0 0 0 0 -8
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In addition to the amounts shown here, implementing H.R. 3854 would increase spending subject to appropriation by less than $500,000 over the 2025-2035
period.
Basis of estimate: For this estimate, CBO assumes that H.R.
3854 will be enacted at the beginning of fiscal year 2026, and
that outlays will follow historical spending patterns for
affected programs.
Spending subject to appropriation: The reporting, planning,
and automatic notifications required by H.R. 3854 would
increase spending subject to appropriation by less than
$500,000, CBO estimates.
Report on Veteran Deaths. Section 2 of H.R. 3854 would
require VA to annually report to the Congress on the causes of
death among veterans. That requirement would expire five years
after the bill's enactment. VA already collects information on
and reports about the causes of veteran deaths; thus, producing
the additional report to the Congress would cost less than
$500,000, CBO estimates.
Plan for Expanding Automated Claims Processing. Section 3
of the bill would require VA to submit a plan to the Congress
on ways to make its existing automation tools available to
other divisions of the agency. That plan would be due within
one year of enactment. VA currently uses automated technology
to help it process claims for certain veterans' benefits. The
plan would require VA to analyze the feasibility and benefits
of extending the use of existing automation technology to
process additional veterans' benefits. Using information on the
cost of producing similar plans and reports, CBO estimates the
requirement would cost less than $500,000.
Automatic Notification of Unallowed Benefits. The bill
would require VA to update its claim processing system to
automatically identify for VA employees certain claims for
benefits that cannot be received concurrently with other
benefits the applicant is receiving. The department already has
the capability to flag such claims within its IT systems and is
implementing technology to automatically disallow such claims
without human intervention. As such, CBO estimates that
providing an automatic notice to VA employees for those
unallowed claims would cost less than $500,000.
Direct spending: Under current law, VA reduces pension
payments to veterans and survivors who reside in Medicaid
nursing homes to $90 per month. That required reduction expires
November 30, 2031. Section 5 of H.R. 3854 would extend that
reduction for two months, through January 31, 2032. CBO
estimates that extending that requirement would reduce VA
benefits by $10 million per month. (Those benefits are paid
from mandatory appropriations and are therefore considered
direct spending.) As a result of that reduction in
beneficiaries' income, Medicaid would pay more of the cost of
their care, increasing spending for that program by $6 million
per month. Thus, enacting section 5 would reduce net direct
spending by $8 million over the 2025-2035 period.
Pay-As-You-Go considerations: The Statutory Pay-As-You-Go
Act of 2010 establishes budget-reporting and enforcement
procedures for legislation affecting direct spending or
revenues. The net changes in outlays that are subject to those
pay-as-you-go procedures are shown in Table 1.
Increase in long-term net direct spending and deficits: CBO
estimates that enacting H.R. 3854 would not increase net direct
spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive
10-year periods beginning in 2036.
Mandates: The bill contains no intergovernmental or
private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates
Reform Act.
Estimate prepared by: Federal Costs: Logan Smith; Mandates:
Brandon Lever.
Estimate reviewed by: David Newman, Chief, Defense,
International Affairs, and Veterans' Affairs Cost Estimates
Unit; Kathleen FitzGerald, Chief, Public and Private Mandates
Unit; Christina Hawley Anthony, Deputy Director of Budget
Analysis.
Estimate approved by: Phillip L. Swagel, Director,
Congressional Budget Office.
Federal Mandates Statement
Section 423 of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment
Control Act (as amended by Section 101(a)(2) of the Unfunded
Mandate Reform Act, P.L. 104-4 is inapplicable to H.R. 3854, as
amended.
Advisory Committee Statement
No advisory committees within the meaning of section 5(b)
of the Federal Advisory Committee Act would be created by H.R.
3854, as amended.
Applicability to Legislative Branch
The Committee finds that H.R. 3854, as amended, does not
relate to the terms and conditions of employment or access to
public services or accommodations within the meaning of section
102(b)(3) of the Congressional Accountability Act.
Statement on Duplication of Federal Programs
Pursuant to clause 3(c)(5) of rule XIII of the Rules of the
House of Representatives, the Committee finds that no provision
of H.R. 3854, as amended, would establish or reauthorize a
program of the Federal Government known to be duplicative of
another Federal program, a program that was included in any
report from the Government Accountability Office to Congress
pursuant to section 21 of Public Law 111-139, or a program
related to a program identified in the most recent Catalog of
Federal Domestic Assistance.
Section-by-Section Analysis of the Legislation
Section 1. Short title
Section 1 would establish the short title of the bill as
the ``Modernizing All Veterans and Survivors Claims Processing
Act.''
Section 2. Department of Veterans Affairs annual report on causes of
death among veterans
Section 2 would add a new section, 38 U.S.C. Sec. 534,
that would require VA to submit an annual report on veterans
who died during the covered period who were rated by the VA as
having a service-connected disability rated as total. Elements
of this report would include whether a veteran had a service-
connected disability rated as total, their primary cause of
death, their secondary cause of death if applicable, and the
manner of their death. Additionally, the report would provide
the total number of veterans that died from each primary cause
of death during the period covered and each manner of death
during the period covered. The report outlined by this section
would terminate five years after the enactment of this Act.
Section 3. Plan for use of automation tools to process claims under
laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs
Section 3 would require VA to submit a plan to the
Committees on Veterans' Affairs of both the Senate and the
House of Representatives for developing an automation tool for
processing claims for benefits. The automation tool described
by this subsection would be for the Compensation Service of VBA
and would automate the retrieval of a veteran's service or
health records, compile evidence relevant to adjudicating a
claim for benefits, provide automated decision support relevant
to adjudicating a claim, automate information sharing between
federal agencies, and assist in generating correspondence
regarding a claim for benefits.
Section 3 would also require the VA Secretary to conduct an
analysis of the feasibility and benefit of using such an
automation tool, any modification to existing automation tools
that could render this tool usable for implementing this plan,
the extent of collaboration necessary between technology
offices, and a timeline for modifying and implementing such a
tool.
Section 3 would also dictate that in developing a plan for
implementation, the VA Secretary would give priority for
providing this tool to the VBA's Pension and Fiduciary Service,
Education Service, Program Offices, Debt Management Center, and
Board of Veterans' Appeals offices.
Section 4. Other requirements relating to technology at Department of
Veterans Affairs
Section 4 would require VA to institute polices, processes,
and technological capabilities, including in the National Work
Queue or successor system, to ensure that claims processors are
made aware of, and assigned to address, child of a veteran who
is erroneously receiving both dependency compensation and
education assistance concurrently. The term ``child'' is given
the same meaning as defined in 38 U.S.C. Sec. 101(4)(A)(iii).
Section 4 would also require VA to submit a plan for
ensuring that documents in the Veterans Benefit Management
System are correctly labeled when uploaded.
Section 5. Extension of certain limits on payments of pension
Section 5 would extend the limitation of pension payable to
certain veterans, their surviving spouses, and their children
as established in 38 U.S.C. Sec. 5503(d)(7), from November 30,
2031, to January 31, 2032.
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported
In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (existing law
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new
matter is printed in italics, existing law in which no change
is proposed is shown in roman):
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported
In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (existing law
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new
matter is printed in italics, and existing law in which no
change is proposed is shown in roman):
TITLE 38, UNITED STATES CODE
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PART I--GENERAL PROVISIONS
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CHAPTER 5--AUTHORITY AND DUTIES OF THE SECRETARY
SUBCHAPTER I--GENERAL AUTHORITIES
Sec.
501. Rules and regulations.
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SUBCHAPTER II--SPECIFIED FUNCTIONS
521. Assistance to certain rehabilitation activities.
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534. Annual report on causes of death among veterans
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SUBCHAPTER II--SPECIFIED FUNCTIONS
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Sec. 534. Annual report on causes of death among veterans
(a) In General.--The Secretary shall submit to the Committees
on Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives and the
Senate an annual report that contains data and information on
causes of death among veterans.
(b) Elements.--Such report shall include--
(1) for each veteran that died during the period
covered by the report an identification of--
(A) whether such veteran had a service-
connected disability rated as total;
(B) the primary cause of death;
(C) the secondary cause of death, if
applicable; and
(D) the manner of death;
(2) for each primary cause of death identified
pursuant to paragraph (1), a statement of the total
number of veterans that died from such primary cause of
death during the period covered by the report; and
(3) for each manner of death identified pursuant to
paragraph (1), a statement of the total number of
veterans that died in such manner during the period
covered by the report.
(c) Sunset.--This section shall terminate on the date that is
five years after the date of the enactment of the Justice for
America's Veterans and Survivors Act of 2025.
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PART IV--GENERAL ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS
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CHAPTER 55--MINORS, INCOMPETENTS, AND OTHER WARDS
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Sec. 5503. Hospitalized veterans and estates of incompetent
institutionalized veterans
(a)(1)(A) Where any veteran having neither spouse nor child
is being furnished domiciliary care by the Department, no
pension in excess of $90 per month shall be paid to or for the
veteran for any period after the end of the third full calendar
month following the month of admission for such care.
(B) Except as provided in subparagraph (D) of this paragraph,
where any veteran having neither spouse nor child is being
furnished nursing home care by the Department, no pension in
excess of $90 per month shall be paid to or for the veteran for
any period after the end of the third full calendar month
following the month of admission for such care. Any amount in
excess of $90 per month to which the veteran would be entitled
but for the application of the preceding sentence shall be
deposited in a revolving fund at the Department medical
facility which furnished the veteran nursing care, and such
amount shall be available for obligation without fiscal year
limitation to help defray operating expenses of that facility.
(C) No pension in excess of $90 per month shall be paid to or
for a veteran having neither spouse nor child for any period
after the month in which such veteran is readmitted for care
described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of this paragraph and
furnished by the Department if such veteran is readmitted
within six months of a period of care in connection with which
pension was reduced pursuant to subparagraph (A) or (B) of this
paragraph.
(D) In the case of a veteran being furnished nursing home
care by the Department and with respect to whom subparagraph
(B) of this paragraph requires a reduction in pension, such
reduction shall not be made for a period of up to three
additional calendar months after the last day of the third
month referred to in such subparagraph if the Secretary
determines that the primary purpose for the furnishing of such
care during such additional period is for the Department to
provide such veteran with a prescribed program of
rehabilitation services, under chapter 17 of this title,
designed to restore such veteran's ability to function within
such veteran's family and community. If the Secretary
determines that it is necessary, after such period, for the
veteran to continue such program of rehabilitation services in
order to achieve the purposes of such program and that the
primary purpose of furnishing nursing home care to the veteran
continues to be the provision of such program to the veteran,
the reduction in pension required by subparagraph (B) of this
paragraph shall not be made for the number of calendar months
that the Secretary determines is necessary for the veteran to
achieve the purposes of such program.
(2) The provisions of paragraph (1) shall also apply to a
veteran being furnished such care who has a spouse but whose
pension is payable under section 1521(b) of this title. In such
a case, the Secretary may apportion and pay to the spouse, upon
an affirmative showing of hardship, all or any part of the
amounts in excess of the amount payable to the veteran while
being furnished such care which would be payable to the veteran
if pension were payable under section 1521(c) of this title.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section or
any other provision of law, no reduction shall be made in the
pension of any veteran for any part of the period during which
the veteran is furnished hospital treatment, or institutional
or domiciliary care, for Hansen's disease, by the United States
or any political subdivision thereof.
(c) Where any veteran in receipt of an aid and attendance
allowance described in subsection (r) or (t) of section 1114 of
this title is hospitalized at Government expense, such
allowance shall be discontinued from the first day of the
second calendar month which begins after the date of the
veteran's admission for such hospitalization for so long as
such hospitalization continues. Any discontinuance required by
administrative regulation, during hospitalization of a veteran
by the Department, of increased pension based on need of
regular aid and attendance or additional compensation based on
need of regular aid and attendance as described in subsection
(l) or (m) of section 1114 of this title, shall not be
effective earlier than the first day of the second calendar
month which begins after the date of the veteran's admission
for hospitalization. In case a veteran affected by this
subsection leaves a hospital against medical advice and is
thereafter admitted to hospitalization within six months from
the date of such departure, such allowance, increased pension,
or additional compensation, as the case may be, shall be
discontinued from the date of such readmission for so long as
such hospitalization continues.
(d)(1) For the purposes of this subsection--
(A) the term ``Medicaid plan'' means a State plan for
medical assistance referred to in section 1902(a) of
the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396a(a)); and
(B) the term ``nursing facility'' means a nursing
facility described in section 1919 of such Act (42
U.S.C. 1396r), other than a facility that is a State
home with respect to which the Secretary makes per diem
payments for nursing home care pursuant to section
1741(a) of this title.
(2) If a veteran having neither spouse nor child is covered
by a Medicaid plan for services furnished such veteran by a
nursing facility, no pension in excess of $90 per month shall
be paid to or for the veteran for any period after the month of
admission to such nursing facility.
(3) Notwithstanding any provision of title XIX of the Social
Security Act, the amount of the payment paid a nursing facility
pursuant to a Medicaid plan for services furnished a veteran
may not be reduced by any amount of pension permitted to be
paid such veteran under paragraph (2) of this subsection.
(4) A veteran is not liable to the United States for any
payment of pension in excess of the amount permitted under this
subsection that is paid to or for the veteran by reason of the
inability or failure of the Secretary to reduce the veteran's
pension under this subsection unless such inability or failure
is the result of a willful concealment by the veteran of
information necessary to make a reduction in pension under this
subsection.
(5)(A) The provisions of this subsection shall apply with
respect to a surviving spouse having no child in the same
manner as they apply to a veteran having neither spouse nor
child.
(B) The provisions of this subsection shall apply with
respect to a child entitled to pension under section 1542 of
this title in the same manner as they apply to a veteran having
neither spouse nor child.
(6) The costs of administering this subsection shall be paid
for from amounts available to the Department of Veterans
Affairs for the payment of compensation and pension.
(7) This subsection expires on [November 30, 2031] January
31, 2032.
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