II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 935 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to prohibit the Secretary of Veterans 

Affairs from requesting additional medical examinations of veterans who 

have submitted sufficient medical evidence provided by non-Department 

medical professionals and to improve the efficiency of processing certain 

claims for disability compensation by veterans, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 13, 2013 

Mr. FRANKEN 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 prohibit the Secretary of Veterans Affairs from requesting additional 

medical examinations of veterans who have submitted 

sufficient medical evidence provided by non-Department 

medical professionals and to improve the efficiency of 

processing certain claims for disability compensation by 

veterans, 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 ‘‘Quicker Veterans Ben5 efits Delivery Act of 2013’’. 

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1 SEC. 2. TREATMENT OF MEDICAL EVIDENCE PROVIDED BY 

2 NON-DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS 

3 MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS IN SUPPORT OF 

4 CLAIMS DISABILITY COMPENSATION. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 5103A(d) of title 38, 

6 United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 

7 following new paragraph: 

8 ‘‘(3) During the six-year period beginning on the date 

9 of the enactment of the Quicker Veterans Benefits Deliv10 ery Act of 2013, the Secretary may not request a medical 

11 examination under paragraph (1) in the case of a claim 

12 for disability compensation in support of which a claimant 

13 submits medical evidence provided by a non-Department 

14 medical professional, including a non-Department medical 

15 opinion, that is competent, credible, probative, and other16 wise adequate for purposes of making a decision on the 

17 claim.’’. 

18 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

19 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to medical evidence 

20 submitted after the date that is 90 days after the date 

21 of the enactment of this Act. 

22 SEC. 3. IMPROVEMENT OF DISABILITY CLAIMS PROC23 ESSING. 

24 (a) PRESTABILIZATION RATES.—Section 1156 of 

25 title 38, United States Code, is amended— 

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1 (1) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as 

2 subsections (e) and (f), respectively; and 

3 (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol4 lowing new subsection (c): 

5 ‘‘(c) PRESTABILIZATION RATES.—During the six6 year period beginning on the date of the enactment of the 

7 Quicker Veterans Benefits Delivery Act of 2013, in assign8 ing to a veteran a prestabilization rating pursuant to sec9 tion 4.28 of title 38, Code of Federal Regulations, or suc10 cessor regulation, the Secretary shall assign such a rating 

11 at the level of total, 50 percent, or 30 percent, as deter12 mined appropriate by the Secretary.’’. 

13 (b) TEMPORARY MINIMUM RATES.—Section 1156 of 

14 title 38, United States Code, is further amended by insert15 ing after subsection (c), as added by subsection (a), the 

16 following new subsection (d): 

17 ‘‘(d) TEMPORARY MINIMUM RATES.—During the six18 year period beginning on the date of the enactment of the 

19 Quicker Veterans Benefits Delivery Act of 2013, the Sec20 retary shall assign a temporary minimum disability rating 

21 to a veteran who— 

22 ‘‘(1) has one or more disabilities not covered 

23 under subsection (a); and 

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1 ‘‘(2) submits a claim for such disability that 

2 has sufficient evidence to support a minimum dis3 ability rating.’’. 

4 (c) REPORTING OF CLAIMS BACKLOG.—During the 

5 six-year period beginning on the date of the enactment of 

6 this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall not in7 clude any veteran to whom the Secretary has assigned a 

8 pre-stabilization rating under subsection (c) of section 

9 1156 of such title, as added by subsection (a), or a tem10 porary minimum disability rating under subsection (d) of 

11 such section, as added by subsection (b), in any count of 

12 the backlog of disability ratings to be assigned by the Sec13 retary. 

14 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

15 this section shall take effect on the date that is 90 days 

16 after the date of the enactment of this Act and shall apply 

17 with respect to claims for disability compensation filed on 

18 or after that date. 

19 SEC. 4. TIMING OF MONTHLY PAYMENTS OF BENEFITS 

20 UNDER THE LAWS ADMINISTERED BY THE 

21 SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 5120(e) of title 38, 

23 United States Code, is amended— 

24 (1) by striking ‘‘Whenever’’ and inserting ‘‘(1) 

25 Whenever’’; and 

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1 (2) by adding at the end the following new 

2 paragraph: 

3 ‘‘(2) During the six-year period beginning on the date 

4 of the enactment of the Quicker Veterans Benefits Deliv5 ery Act of 2013, the Secretary may certify benefit pay6 ments for any calendar month in such a way that such 

7 payments will be delivered by mail, or transmitted for 

8 credit to the payee’s account pursuant to subsection (d) 

9 of this section, before the first day of the calendar month 

10 for which such payments are issued.’’. 

11 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

12 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to a calendar month 

13 that begins after the date that is 90 days after the date 

14 of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 

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