I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2139 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs to provide notice of average times for processing claims and 
percentage of claims approved, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 30, 2015 
Mr. O’ROURKE (for himself, Ms. KUSTER, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. RUSH, Mr. 
JONES, Ms. GABBARD, Mr. SWALWELL of California, Miss RICE of New 
York, Mr. YOHO, and Mr. TAKANO) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
A BILL 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Sec-
retary of Veterans Affairs to provide notice of average 
times for processing claims and percentage of claims 
approved, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veteran’s Benefits 
Claims Faster Filing Act of 2015’’. 
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SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS NOTICE OF 
AVERAGE TIMES FOR PROCESSING CLAIMS 
AND PERCENTAGE OF CLAIMS APPROVED. 
(a) PUBLIC NOTICE.—The Secretary of Veterans Af-
fairs shall post the information described in subsection 
(c)— 
(1) in a conspicuous place in each regional of-
fice and claims intake facilities of the Department of 
Veterans Affairs; and 
(2) on the Internet Web site of the Department. 
(b) NOTICE TO APPLICANTS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide 
to each person who submits a claim for benefits 
under the laws administered by the Secretary before 
the person submits such claim— 
(A) notice of the information described in 
subsection (c); and 
(B) notice that the person is eligible to re-
ceive up to an extra year of benefits payments 
if the person files a claim that is fully devel-
oped. 
(2) ACKNOWLEDGMENT
OF
RECEIPT
OF
NO-
TICE.—Each person who submits a claim for bene-
fits under the laws administered by the Secretary 
shall include in such application a signed form ac-
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knowledging that the person received the informa-
tion described in subsection (c). 
(c) INFORMATION DESCRIBED.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The information described in 
this subsection is the following: 
(A) The average processing time of the 
claims described in paragraph (2) and the per-
centage of such submitted claims for which ben-
efits are awarded. 
(B) The percentage of each of the fol-
lowing types of submitted claims for benefits 
under the laws administered by the Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs for which benefits are award-
ed: 
(i) Claims filed by veterans who au-
thorized a veterans service organization to 
act on the veterans’ behalf under a durable 
power of attorney. 
(ii) Claims filed by veterans who au-
thorized a person other than a veterans 
service organization to act on the veterans’ 
behalf under a durable power of attorney. 
(iii) Claims filed by veterans who did 
not authorize a person to act on the vet-
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erans’ behalf under a durable power of at-
torney. 
(2) CLAIMS DESCRIBED.—The claims described 
in this paragraph are each of the following types of 
claims for benefits under the laws administered by 
the Secretary of Veterans Affairs: 
(A) A fully developed claim that is sub-
mitted in standard electronic form. 
(B) A fully developed claim that is sub-
mitted in standard paper form. 
(C) A claim that is not fully developed that 
is submitted in standard electronic form. 
(D) A claim that is not fully developed 
that is submitted in standard paper form. 
(E) A claim that is not fully developed that 
is submitted in non-standard paper form. 
(3) UPDATE OF INFORMATION.—The informa-
tion described in this subsection shall be updated not 
less frequently than once each fiscal quarter. 
Æ 
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