I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1822 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the review of claims 

for benefits under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 28, 2023 

Mr. BERGMAN (for himself and Ms. MACE) 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 

review of claims for benefits under laws administered 

by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. 

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 ‘‘Preserving Lawful Uti5 lization of Services for Veterans Act of 2023’’ or the 

6 ‘‘PLUS for Veterans Act of 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION OF PREPARATION, PRESENTATION, 

2 OR PROSECUTION OF A CLAIM UNDER A LAW 

3 ADMINISTERED BY SECRETARY OF VET4 ERANS AFFAIRS. 

5 Section 5901 of title 38, United States Code, is 

6 amended— 

7 (1) by inserting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—’’ before 

8 ‘‘Except’’; and 

9 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub10 section: 

11 ‘‘(b) EXCLUSION.—The administration of a medical 

12 examination, or the writing of a report based on such ex13 amination, described in section 5125 of this title, does not 

14 constitute the preparation, presentation, or prosecution of 

15 a claim described in subsection (a).’’. 

16 SEC. 3. AGENTS AND ATTORNEYS IN CLAIMS UNDER LAWS 

17 ADMINISTERED BY SECRETARY OF VET18 ERANS AFFAIRS: RECOGNITION; SUSPENSION. 

19 Section 5904 of title 38, United States Code, is 

20 amended— 

21 (1) in paragraph (1) of subsection (a)— 

22 (A) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ before ‘‘Except’’; 

23 and 

24 (B) by adding at the end the following new 

25 subparagraphs: 


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1 ‘‘(B) The Secretary shall determine whether to recog2 nize under subparagraph (A) an agent or attorney who 

3 applies for such recognition not later than 90 days after 

4 the Secretary receives such application. If the Secretary 

5 cannot verify whether the agent or attorney meets the 

6 qualifications and standards prescribed under paragraph 

7 (2) before the end of such 90 days, the Secretary shall 

8 recognize the agent or attorney under such subparagraph. 

9 ‘‘(C) The Secretary may not refuse to recognize 

10 under subparagraph (A) an agent or attorney solely on 

11 the basis that such agent or attorney charges a claimant 

12 a fee for services rendered in the preparation, presen13 tation, or prosecution of a claim. 

14 ‘‘(D) The Secretary may suspend under subsection 

15 (b) an agent or attorney described in subparagraph (D) 

16 without regard to the notice and opportunity for a hearing 

17 under such subsection. 

18 ‘‘(E) An agent or attorney described in this subpara19 graph is an agent or attorney— 

20 ‘‘(i) recognized pursuant to the second sentence 

21 of subparagraph (B); and 

22 ‘‘(ii) whom the Secretary determines, after the 

23 90-day period described in such subparagraph, does 

24 not meet the qualifications and standards prescribed 

25 under paragraph (2).’’; and 


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1 (2) in subsection (b)— 

2 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) 

3 through (9) as subparagraphs (A) through (I), 

4 respectively; 

5 (B) in the matter preceding subparagraph 

6 (A), as redesignated, by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before 

7 ‘‘The Secretary’’; and 

8 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

9 paragraph: 

10 ‘‘(2) Not later than one year after the date of the 

11 enactment of the Preserving Lawful Utilization of Services 

12 for Veterans Act of 2023 and annually thereafter, the Sec13 retary shall submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs 

14 of the Senate and House of Representatives a report re15 garding the number of individuals suspended under this 

16 subsection or denied recognition under subsection (a), 

17 disaggregated by the reasons for such suspension or denial 

18 and whether the individual is— 

19 ‘‘(A) a representative of an organization recog20 nized under section 5902 of this title; 

21 ‘‘(B) an agent; or 

22 ‘‘(C) an attorney.’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. FEES ALLOWABLE FOR REPRESENTATION OF VET2 ERANS FOR CLAIMS UNDER LAWS ADMINIS3 TERED BY SECRETARY OF VETERANS AF4 FAIRS. 

5 (a) FEES.—Section 5904 of title 38, United States 

6 Code, as amended by section 3, is further amended— 

7 (1) in subsection (a)(5), by striking ‘‘prepara8 tion, presentation, and prosecution of a claim before 

9 the Department’’ and inserting ‘‘course of represen10 tation described in subsection (c)(2)’’; 

11 (2) in subsection (c)— 

12 (A) in the heading, by inserting ‘‘FLAT

13 FEE AGREEMENTS.—’’ after ‘‘(c)’’; 

14 (B) by amending paragraph (1) to read as 

15 follows: 

16 ‘‘(1)(A) In a case other than a case described in para17 graph (2), a fee agreement between a claimant and an 

18 agent or attorney, with respect to the preparation, presen19 tation, or prosecution of a claim under a law administered 

20 by the Secretary, shall be a fee agreement under— 

21 ‘‘(i) this paragraph, using a standard agree22 ment form prescribed by the Secretary; 

23 ‘‘(ii) subsection (d); or 

24 ‘‘(iii) subsection (e). 


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1 ‘‘(B) A fee agreement under this paragraph is one 

2 under which the total amount payable by the claimant to 

3 the agent or attorney with respect to the claim— 

4 ‘‘(i) may not exceed $12,500 (as adjusted from 

5 time to time under subparagraph (C)); and 

6 ‘‘(ii) is contingent on whether the claim is re7 solved in a manner favorable to the claimant. 

8 ‘‘(C) Effective on October 1 of each year (beginning 

9 in the first fiscal year after the date of the enactment of 

10 the Preserving Lawful Utilization of Services for Veterans 

11 Act of 2023), the Secretary shall increase the dollar 

12 amount in effect under clause (i) of subparagraph (B) by 

13 a percentage equal to the percentage by which the Con14 sumer Price Index for all urban consumers (U.S. city aver15 age) increased during the 12-month period ending with 

16 the last month for which Consumer Price Index data is 

17 available. In the event that such Consumer Price Index 

18 does not increase during such period, the Secretary shall 

19 maintain the dollar amount in effect under such clause 

20 during the previous fiscal year. 

21 ‘‘(D) The limitation under subparagraph (B)(i) does 

22 not apply to any fee charged, allowed, or paid for services 

23 provided with respect to proceedings before a court. 

24 ‘‘(E) For purposes of subparagraph (B)(ii), a claim 

25 shall be considered to have been resolved in a manner faVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Apr 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1822.IH H1822

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1 vorable to the claimant if all or any part of the relief 

2 sought is granted. 

3 ‘‘(F) The form prescribed by the Secretary under 

4 subparagraph (A)(i) shall include the following notifica5 tions to the claimant: 

6 ‘‘(i) That organizations recognized under sec7 tion 5902 of this title furnish services concerning 

8 claims under laws administered by the Secretary, at 

9 no cost to claimants. 

10 ‘‘(ii) That the claimant may select a private 

11 physician for a medical examination described in sec12 tion 5125 of this title regarding the claim. 

13 ‘‘(iii) That such agent or attorney may not 

14 refer the claimant to a private physician described in 

15 clause (ii) with whom the agent or attorney has a 

16 business relationship regarding the claim.’’; 

17 (C) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘referred 

18 to in paragraph (1) of this subsection’’ and in19 serting ‘‘regarding a claim under a law adminis20 tered by the Secretary’’; 

21 (D) in paragraph (3)(A), by striking 

22 ‘‘paragraph (2)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph (1) 

23 or (2)’’; and 

24 (E) by striking paragraph (4); and 


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1 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub2 section (e): 

3 ‘‘(e) PAYMENT OF FEES OUT OF AN AWARD OR IN4 CREASED AWARD.—(1) When a claimant and an agent or 

5 attorney have entered into a fee agreement described in 

6 paragraph (2), the total fee payable to the agent or attor7 ney (including all ancillary fees) may not exceed the 

8 amount that is equal to the product of five and the amount 

9 of the monthly increase of benefits awarded on the basis 

10 of the claim. 

11 ‘‘(2) A fee agreement referred to in paragraph (1) 

12 is one under which the total amount of the fee payable 

13 to the agent or attorney— 

14 ‘‘(A) is to be paid to the agent or attorney by 

15 the claimant, after commencement of the monthly 

16 period of payment of monetary benefits based on an 

17 award or increased award (as defined in section 

18 5111(d) of this title); and 

19 ‘‘(B) is contingent on whether the matter is re20 solved in a manner favorable to the claimant. 

21 ‘‘(3) For the purposes of this subsection, a claim shall 

22 be considered to have been resolved in a manner favorable 

23 to the claimant if all or any part of the relief sought is 

24 granted.’’. 


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1 (b) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days after 

2 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 

3 prescribe regulations to carry out the amendments made 

4 by this section. 

5 SEC. 5. REINSTATEMENT OF PENALTIES FOR CHARGING 

6 VETERANS UNAUTHORIZED FEES RELATING 

7 TO CLAIMS UNDER LAWS ADMINISTERED BY 

8 THE SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 5905 of title 38, United 

10 States Code, is amended— 

11 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘Pen12 alty’’ and inserting ‘‘Penalties’’; 

13 (2) by inserting ‘‘(a) WITHHOLDING OF BENE14 FITS.—’’ before ‘‘Whoever’’; and 

15 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub16 section: 

17 ‘‘(b) CHARGING OF UNAUTHORIZED FEES.—Except 

18 as provided in sections 5904 or 1984 of this title, whoever 

19 directly or indirectly solicits, contracts for, charges, or re20 ceives, or attempts to solicit, contract for, charge, or re21 ceive, any fee or compensation with respect to the prepara22 tion, presentation, or prosecution of any claim for benefits 

23 under the laws administered by the Secretary shall be 

24 fined as provided in title 18, or imprisoned not more than 

25 one year, or both.’’. 


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

2 at the beginning of chapter 59 of such title is amended 

3 by striking the item relating to section 5905 and inserting 

4 the following new item: 

‘‘5905. Penalties for certain acts.’’. 

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

6 this section shall take effect one year after the date of 

7 the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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