II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4646 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to shorten the timeframe for claims 

by beneficiaries and the payment of benefits under Department of Veterans Affairs life insurance programs, to improve the management of 

undisbursed life insurance benefits by the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 27, 2022 

Mr. BROWN (for himself and Mr. BOOZMAN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to shorten the timeframe for claims by beneficiaries and the payment of 

benefits under Department of Veterans Affairs life insurance programs, to improve the management of 

undisbursed life insurance benefits by the Department 

of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Faster Payments to 

5 Veterans’ Survivors Act of 2022’’. 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 4646 IS

1 SEC. 2. TIMEFRAME FOR CLAIMS BY BENEFICIARIES AND 

2 PAYMENT OF BENEFITS UNDER DEPART3 MENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS LIFE INSUR4 ANCE PROGRAMS. 

5 (a) NATIONAL SERVICE LIFE INSURANCE.—Section 

6 1917(f)(1) of title 38, United States Code, is amended— 

7 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘two 

8 years’’ and inserting ‘‘one year’’; and 

9 (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘four’’ 

10 and inserting ‘‘two’’. 

11 (b) UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT LIFE INSUR12 ANCE.—Section 1952(c)(1) of such title is amended— 

13 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘two 

14 years’’ and inserting ‘‘one year’’; and 

15 (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘four’’ 

16 and inserting ‘‘two’’. 

17 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

18 this section shall apply with respect to the death of an 

19 insured person occurring on or after the date that is two 

20 years before the date of the enactment of this Act. 

21 SEC. 3. PROCESS FOR DESIGNATION OF BENEFICIARIES 

22 UNDER DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS 

23 LIFE INSURANCE PROGRAMS. 

24 (a) NATIONAL SERVICE LIFE INSURANCE.—Section 

25 1917 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by strik26 ing subsection (a) and inserting the following: 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 4646 IS

1 ‘‘(a)(1) The insured may designate a beneficiary or 

2 beneficiaries of insurance maturing on or after August 1, 

3 1946. The insured shall, subject to regulations, at all 

4 times have the right to change the beneficiary or bene5 ficiaries of such insurance without the consent of such 

6 beneficiary or beneficiaries. 

7 ‘‘(2) If the insured does not designate a beneficiary 

8 under paragraph (1) before the insured dies, or if a des9 ignated beneficiary predeceases the insured, the Secretary 

10 shall determine the beneficiary in the following order: 

11 ‘‘(A) The surviving spouse of the insured. 

12 ‘‘(B) The children of the insured and descend13 ants of deceased children by representation. 

14 ‘‘(C) The parents of the insured or the sur15 vivors of the parents. 

16 ‘‘(D) The duly appointed executor or adminis17 trator of the estate of the insured. 

18 ‘‘(E) Other next of kin of the insured entitled 

19 under the laws of domicile of the insured at the time 

20 of the death of the insured.’’. 

21 (b) UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT LIFE INSUR22 ANCE.— 

23 (1) CHANGE OF BENEFICIARY.—Section 1949 

24 of such title is amended by striking ‘‘Subject to reg25 ulations’’ and all that follows through the period and 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 4646 IS

1 inserting the following: ‘‘The insured may designate 

2 a beneficiary or beneficiaries of a United States Gov3 ernment life insurance policy. Subject to regulations, 

4 the insured shall at all times have the right to 

5 change the beneficiary or beneficiaries of a United 

6 States Government life insurance policy without the 

7 consent of such beneficiary or beneficiaries.’’. 

8 (2) PAYMENT TO ESTATES.—Section 1950 of 

9 such title is amended to read as follows: 

10 ‘‘§ 1950. Payment to estates 

11 ‘‘If the insured does not designate a beneficiary under 

12 section 1949 of this title before the insured dies, or if a 

13 designated beneficiary predeceases the insured, the Sec14 retary shall determine the beneficiary in the following 

15 order: 

16 ‘‘(1) The surviving spouse of the insured. 

17 ‘‘(2) The children of the insured and descend18 ants of deceased children by representation. 

19 ‘‘(3) The parents of the insured or the survivors 

20 of the parents. 

21 ‘‘(4) The duly appointed executor or adminis22 trator of the estate of the insured. 

23 ‘‘(5) Other next of kin of the insured entitled 

24 under the laws of domicile of the insured at the time 

25 of the death of the insured.’’. 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 4646 IS

1 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

2 this section shall apply with respect to the death of an 

3 insured person occurring on or after the date that is two 

4 years before the date of the enactment of this Act. 

5 SEC. 4. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS IMPROVE6 MENT OF MANAGEMENT OF UNDISBURSED 

7 LIFE INSURANCE BENEFITS. 

8 (a) IMPROVEMENT OF PROCESSES.—The Secretary 

9 of Veterans Affairs shall improve the processes and proce10 dures of the Department of Veterans Affairs with respect 

11 to identifying, locating, and disbursing undisbursed life in12 surance benefits to hard-to-find beneficiaries of life insur13 ance policies issued under chapter 19 of title 38, United 

14 States Code, including by— 

15 (1) improving the search tools available on the 

16 website of the Department; 

17 (2) conducting outreach to veterans, veterans 

18 service organizations, and the general public with re19 spect to such search tools; 

20 (3) improving the processes for searching for 

21 information relating to potential recipients of 

22 undisbursed life insurance benefits through internal 

23 Department sources and sources available through 

24 other Federal agencies, State government agencies, 

25 and non-government entities; and 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 4646 IS

1 (4) ensuring the Department has sufficient 

2 dedicated staff whose primary responsibilities are 

3 identifying, locating, and disbursing undisbursed life 

4 insurance benefits to hard-to-find beneficiaries, with 

5 the goal of disbursing, by not later than two years 

6 after the date of the enactment of this Act, all funds 

7 that, as of the date of the enactment of this Act, are 

8 owed to a beneficiary of a life insurance policy 

9 issued under chapter 19 of title 38, United States 

10 Code. 

11 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con12 gress that the Secretary of Veterans Affairs should work 

13 with interagency partners to determine the types of 

14 records, reports, and other materials that may be required 

15 to identify, locate, and disburse undisbursed life insurance 

16 benefits to hard-to-find beneficiaries. 

17 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

18 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans 

19 Affairs shall submit to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

20 of the Senate and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of 

21 the House of Representatives a report on the progress of 

22 the Secretary in carrying out this section. 

23 (d) UNDISBURSED LIFE INSURANCE BENEFITS DE24 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘undisbursed life insur25 ance benefits’’— 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 4646 IS

1 (1) means any amount of money that— 

2 (A) is owed to a beneficiary of a life insur3 ance policy issued under chapter 19 of title 38, 

4 United States Code; and 

5 (B) has not been disbursed for a period of 

6 two years or longer; and 

7 (2) does not include any amount of money— 

8 (A) that has not been disbursed due to a 

9 contested claim; or 

10 (B) the entitled beneficiary of which is in 

11 dispute by two or more parties. 

Æ 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS