I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1530 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the requirement to 

publish disability benefit questionnaire forms of Department of Veterans 

Affairs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 10, 2023 

Mr. LUTTRELL (for himself and Mr. PAPPAS) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the 

requirement to publish disability benefit questionnaire 

forms of 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veterans Benefits Im5 provement Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. IMPROVING REQUIREMENT TO PUBLISH DIS2 ABILITY BENEFIT QUESTIONNAIRE FORMS 

3 OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 

4 Section 5101(d) of title 38, United States Code, is 

5 amended— 

6 (1) in paragraph (1)(A), by inserting ‘‘, includ7 ing (except as provided in paragraph (4)(A)) all dis8 ability benefit questionnaire forms available to per9 sonnel of the Veterans Health Administration and 

10 contracted personnel for the completion of com11 pensation and pension examinations’’ before the 

12 semicolon; and 

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

14 paragraph: 

15 ‘‘(4)(A) The Secretary may exclude from publication 

16 under clauses (i) and (ii) of paragraph (1)(A) any form 

17 described in subparagraph (B) of this paragraph that the 

18 Secretary determines could not reasonably be completed 

19 to a clinically acceptable standard by someone not an em20 ployee or a contractor of the Department. 

21 ‘‘(B) A form described in this subparagraph is a form 

22 that— 

23 ‘‘(i) was in effect after January 1, 2022; and 

24 ‘‘(ii) has not been published under paragraph 

25 (1). 


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1 ‘‘(C) For each form excluded under subparagraph 

2 (A), the Secretary shall— 

3 ‘‘(i) list the form on the same internet website 

4 as the forms published under paragraph (1)(A) with 

5 an indication that the form has been excluded; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) provide with such listing a justification for 

7 such exclusion.’’. 

8 SEC. 3. REPORT ON IMPROVING MEDICAL DISABILITY EX9 AMINATIONS FOR VETERANS WHO LIVE 

10 ABROAD. 

11 Not later than one year after the date of the enact12 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, after 

13 consulting with the Secretary of State and the Commis14 sioner of the Social Security Administration, shall submit 

15 to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and 

16 the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Rep17 resentatives a report on the efforts of the Secretary to pro18 vide reimbursement for a veteran’s travel to a facility of 

19 the Department of Veterans Affairs or a facility of a De20 partment-contracted provider, regardless of whether the 

21 facility is inside or outside the United States, when such 

22 travel is incident to a scheduled compensation and pension 

23 examination. 


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1 SEC. 4. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS REQUIRE2 MENT FOR COMMUNICATION BY CONTRAC3 TORS PROVIDING COVERED MEDICAL DIS4 ABILITY EXAMINATIONS WITH PERSONS AP5 POINTED BY A POWER OF ATTORNEY FOR 

6 PREPARATION, PRESENTATION, AND PROS7 ECUTION OF CLAIMS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—In each contract entered into by 

9 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs after the date of the en10 actment of this Act for the provision by a contractor of 

11 a covered medical disability examination, the Secretary 

12 shall include a requirement that every communication 

13 from a contractor to a claimant regarding the scheduling 

14 of a covered medical disability examination be contempora15 neously transmitted to the person or organization ap16 pointed by a power of attorney executed under sections 

17 5902, 5903, and 5904 of title 38, United States Code, 

18 for the preparation, presentation, and prosecution of 

19 claims. 

20 (b) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘covered 

21 medical disability examination’’ means a medical examina22 tion that the Secretary determines necessary for the pur23 poses of adjudicating a benefit under chapter 11 or 15 

24 of title 38, United States Code. 


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1 SEC. 5. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS OUTREACH 

2 REGARDING CONTACT INFORMATION FOR 

3 CONTRACTORS PROVIDING COVERED MED4 ICAL DISABILITY EXAMINATIONS. 

5 Not later than 120 days after the date of enactment 

6 of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall, in 

7 partnership with veterans service organizations and such 

8 other stakeholders as the Secretary considers relevant and 

9 appropriate, implement an informative outreach program 

10 for veterans regarding the following: 

11 (1) Contact information for contractors pro12 viding covered medical disability examinations, in13 cluding the telephone numbers from which such con14 tractors may contact veterans. 

15 (2) The requirement for veterans to provide 

16 personally identifiable information when contacted 

17 by such contractors in order to verify their identity. 

18 SEC. 6. REPORT ON SUPPORTING GOVERNMENTAL VET19 ERANS SERVICE OFFICERS. 

20 (a) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the date 

21 of the enactment of this Act and after consulting veterans 

22 service organizations and such other stakeholders as the 

23 Secretary of Veterans Affairs considers relevant and ap24 propriate, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on 

25 Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Vet26 erans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives a report 


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1 on improving the support by the Department of Veterans 

2 Affairs of governmental veterans service officers. 

3 (b) ELEMENTS.—The report submitted under sub4 section (a) shall include the following: 

5 (1) An assessment of the feasibility, advis6 ability, and current technical limitations of providing 

7 governmental veterans service officers enhanced ac8 cess to certain Department systems to better serve 

9 veterans those governmental service officers may not 

10 have authorization to represent. 

11 (2) An assessment as to whether the Depart12 ment would benefit from the establishment or des13 ignation of an office or working group within the 

14 Department to serve as an intergovernmental liaison 

15 between the Department and governmental veterans 

16 service officers. 

17 (3) Any other recommendations to improve how 

18 the Department monitors, coordinates with, or pro19 vides support to governmental veterans service offi20 cers. 

21 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

22 (1) The term ‘‘governmental veterans service 

23 officer’’ means an employee of a State, county, mu24 nicipal, or Tribal government— 


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1 (A) who is recognized by the Secretary of 

2 Veterans Affairs as a representative of a vet3 erans service organization to serve as a veterans 

4 service officer; and 

5 (B) whose primary responsibilities include 

6 preparing, presenting, and prosecuting benefit 

7 claims before the Department of Veterans Af8 fairs. 

9 (2) The term ‘‘veterans service organization’’ 

10 means an organization recognized by the Secretary 

11 for the representation of veterans under section 

12 5902 of title 38, United States Code. 

Æ 


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