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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2975 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>

118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2975

     To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve payment and 
 processing of payments or allowances for beneficiary travel, and for 
                            other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

           September 28 (legislative day, September 22), 2023

 Mr. Moran (for himself and Mr. Tester) 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 improve payment and 
 processing of payments or allowances for beneficiary travel, and for 
                            other purposes.

    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 ``Road to Access Act of 2023''.

SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENTS RELATING TO DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS 
              BENEFICIARY TRAVEL.

    (a) In General.--Section 111 of title 38, United States Code. is 
amended by adding at the end the following new subsections:
    ``(h) The Secretary shall accept claims for reimbursement for 
expenses under subsection (a) submitted to the Secretary on or before 
the date that is 180 days after the date of eligible travel, or such 
later date as the Secretary considers appropriate.
    ``(i) For the first instance of care a person receives at a 
Department facility each year or that is authorized by the Department, 
the Secretary shall send the veteran written outreach providing 
information on the payments and allowances available under this section 
and encouraging the person to submit a claim for allowance under this 
section. Such communication may also include information about programs 
described in section 111A of this title available through facilities 
local to the person.
    ``(j) For each claim of a person for allowance or reimbursement 
denied under this section, the Secretary shall inform the person 
regarding--
            ``(1) the reason for the denial; and
            ``(2) the options available to the person for--
                    ``(A) resubmitting the claim; or
                    ``(B) appealing the denial.
    ``(k)(1) To the extent practicable, not later than one year after 
the date of the enactment of the Road to Access Act of 2023, the 
Secretary shall establish a policy whereby a veteran described in 
paragraph (2) who is eligible for reimbursement under this section have 
mileage reimbursement claims submitted on their behalf for review by 
the Department for any care provided at a facility of the Department or 
by the staff of the Department.
    ``(2) A veteran described in this paragraph is a veteran--
            ``(A) with a service-connected disability rate at 50 
        percent or more;
            ``(B) with a disability as defined in section 3 of the 
        Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12102);
            ``(C) without reasonable access to the Beneficiary Travel 
        Self Service System, or successor system with similar 
        functions, including lack of access to reliable mobile 
        telephone or internet service or not in possession of the 
        appropriate technology for accessing the Beneficiary Travel 
        Self Service System, or successor system; or
            ``(D) reliant upon a caregiver or other resource to submit 
        a claim on behalf of the veteran due to a mental or physical 
        limitation.
    ``(l) The Secretary shall--
            ``(1) allow any person submitting a claim for allowance or 
        payment under this section to submit the claim in a paper or 
        other format that does not require access to technology 
        devices, mobile telephone service, or internet service;
            ``(2) educate relevant staff of the Department regarding 
        this access requirement described in paragraph (1); and
            ``(3) provide reasonable and equitable access to the 
        alternatives offered by paragraph (1).''.
    (b) Updates to Certain Technology Systems.--Not later than two 
years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs shall complete such updates and modifications to 
technology systems of the Department of Veterans Affairs as the 
Secretary considers appropriate to carry out subsection (k) of section 
111 of such title, as added by subsection (a) of this section.
                                 <all>
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