I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7728 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish presumptions of serviceconnection for members of the Armed Forces who contract COVID– 

19 under certain circumstances, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 22, 2020 

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee (for himself, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. BILIRAKIS, 

Mrs. RADEWAGEN, Mr. BOST, and Mr. BERGMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, 

and in addition to the Committee on the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 

provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish presumptions of service-connection for members of the Armed 

Forces who contract COVID–19 under certain circumstances, 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 ‘‘COVID–19 Benefits 

5 for Active Duty Servicemembers, the Reserve Compo6 nents, and their Survivors Act of 2020’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PRESUMPTIONS OF SERVICE-CONNECTION FOR 

2 MEMBERS OF ARMED FORCES WHO CON3 TRACT CORONAVIRUS DISEASE 2019 UNDER 

4 CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter VI of chapter 11 of 

6 title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

7 end the following new section: 

8 ‘‘§ 1164. Presumptions of service-connection for 

9 Coronavirus Disease 2019 

10 ‘‘(a) PRESUMPTIONS GENERALLY.—(1) For purposes 

11 of laws administered by the Secretary and subject to sec12 tion 1113 of this title, if symptoms of Coronavirus Disease 

13 2019 (in this section referred to as ‘COVID–19’) de14 scribed in subsection (d) manifest within one of the mani15 festation periods described in paragraph (2) in an indi16 vidual who served in a qualifying period of duty described 

17 in subsection (b)— 

18 ‘‘(A) infection with severe acute respiratory 

19 syndrome coronavirus 2 (in this section referred to 

20 as ‘SARS–CoV–2’) shall be presumed to have oc21 curred during the qualifying period of duty; 

22 ‘‘(B) COVID–19 shall be presumed to have 

23 been incurred during the qualifying period of duty; 

24 and 

25 ‘‘(C) if the individual becomes disabled or dies 

26 as a result of COVID–19, it shall be presumed that 


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1 the individual became disabled or died during the 

2 qualifying period of duty for purposes of establishing 

3 that the individual served in the active military, 

4 naval, or air service. 

5 ‘‘(2)(A) The manifestation periods described in this 

6 paragraph are the following: 

7 ‘‘(i) During a qualifying period of duty de8 scribed in subsection (b), if that period of duty was 

9 more than 48 continuous hours in duration. 

10 ‘‘(ii) Within 14 days after the individual’s com11 pletion of a qualifying period of duty described in 

12 subsection (b). 

13 ‘‘(iii) An additional period prescribed under 

14 subparagraph (B). 

15 ‘‘(B)(i) If the Secretary determines that a manifesta16 tion period of more than 14 days after completion of a 

17 qualifying period of service is appropriate for the presump18 tions under paragraph (1), the Secretary may prescribe 

19 that additional period by regulation. 

20 ‘‘(ii) A determination under clause (i) shall be made 

21 in consultation with the Director of the Centers for Dis22 ease Control and Prevention. 

23 ‘‘(b) QUALIFYING PERIOD OF DUTY DESCRIBED.— 

24 A qualifying period of duty described in this subsection 

25 is a period of— 


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1 ‘‘(1) active duty; or 

2 ‘‘(2) the following duty or training not covered 

3 by paragraph (1) performed under orders issued on 

4 or after March 13, 2020, during the national emer5 gency declared by the President under the National 

6 Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.): 

7 ‘‘(A) Training duty under title 10. 

8 ‘‘(B) Full-time National Guard duty (as 

9 defined in section 101 of title 10). 

10 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION OF PRESUMPTIONS FOR TRAINING

11 DUTY.—When, pursuant to subsection (a), COVID–19 is 

12 presumed to have been incurred during a qualifying period 

13 of duty described in subsection (b)(2)— 

14 ‘‘(1) COVID–19 shall be deemed to have been 

15 incurred in the line of duty during a period of active 

16 military, naval, or air service; and 

17 ‘‘(2) where entitlement to benefits under this 

18 title is predicated on the individual who was disabled 

19 or died being a veteran, benefits for disability or 

20 death resulting from COVID–19 as described in sub21 section (a) shall be paid or furnished as if the indi22 vidual was a veteran, without regard to whether the 

23 period of duty would constitute active military, 

24 naval, or air service under section 101 of this title. 


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1 ‘‘(d) SYMPTOMS OF COVID–19.—For purposes of 

2 subsection (a), symptoms of COVID–19 are those symp3 toms that competent medical evidence demonstrates are 

4 experienced by an individual affected and directly related 

5 to COVID–19. 

6 ‘‘(e) MEDICAL EXAMINATIONS AND OPINIONS.—If 

7 there is a question of whether the symptoms experienced 

8 by an individual described in paragraph (1) of subsection 

9 (a) during a manifestation period described in paragraph 

10 (2) of such subsection are attributable to COVID–19 re11 sulting from infection with SARS–CoV–2 during the 

12 qualifying period of duty, in determining whether a med13 ical examination or medical opinion is necessary to make 

14 a decision on the claim within the meaning of section 

15 5103A(d) of this title, a qualifying period of duty de16 scribed in subsection (b) of this section shall be treated 

17 as if it were active military, naval, or air service for pur18 poses of section 5103A(d)(2)(B) of this title.’’. 

19 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

20 at the beginning of such subchapter is amended by adding 

21 at the end the following new item: 

‘‘1164. Presumptions of service-connection for Coronavirus Disease 2019.’’. 

22 (c) EMERGENCY DESIGNATIONS.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—This section is designated as 

24 an emergency requirement pursuant to section 4(g) 


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1 of the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 (2 

2 U.S.C. 933(g)). 

3 (2) DESIGNATION IN SENATE.—In the Senate, 

4 this section is designated as an emergency require5 ment pursuant to section 4112(a) of H. Con. Res. 

6 71 (115th Congress), the concurrent resolution on 

7 the budget for fiscal year 2018. 

8 (3) TERMINATION OF DESIGNATIONS.—The 

9 designations under paragraphs (1) and (2) shall ter10 minate on the earlier of— 

11 (A) the date of the end of the national 

12 emergency declared by the President under the 

13 National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et 

14 seq.); and 

15 (B) the date that is three years after the 

16 date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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