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. 
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 ‘‘Preserving Lawful Uti-
lization of Services for Veterans Act of 2023’’ or the 
‘‘PLUS for Veterans Act of 2023’’. 
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SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION OF PREPARATION, PRESENTATION, 
OR PROSECUTION OF A CLAIM UNDER A LAW 
ADMINISTERED 
BY 
SECRETARY 
OF 
VET-
ERANS AFFAIRS. 
Section 5901 of title 38, United States Code, is 
amended— 
(1) by inserting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—’’ before 
‘‘Except’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following new sub-
section: 
‘‘(b) EXCLUSION.—The administration of a medical 
examination, or the writing of a report based on such ex-
amination, described in section 5125 of this title, does not 
constitute the preparation, presentation, or prosecution of 
a claim described in subsection (a).’’. 
SEC. 3. AGENTS AND ATTORNEYS IN CLAIMS UNDER LAWS 
ADMINISTERED 
BY 
SECRETARY 
OF 
VET-
ERANS AFFAIRS: RECOGNITION; SUSPENSION. 
Section 5904 of title 38, United States Code, is 
amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1) of subsection (a)— 
(A) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ before ‘‘Except’’; 
and 
(B) by adding at the end the following new 
subparagraphs: 
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‘‘(B) The Secretary shall determine whether to recog-
nize under subparagraph (A) an agent or attorney who 
applies for such recognition not later than 90 days after 
the Secretary receives such application. If the Secretary 
cannot verify whether the agent or attorney meets the 
qualifications and standards prescribed under paragraph 
(2) before the end of such 90 days, the Secretary shall 
recognize the agent or attorney under such subparagraph. 
‘‘(C) The Secretary may not refuse to recognize 
under subparagraph (A) an agent or attorney solely on 
the basis that such agent or attorney charges a claimant 
a fee for services rendered in the preparation, presen-
tation, or prosecution of a claim. 
‘‘(D) The Secretary may suspend under subsection 
(b) an agent or attorney described in subparagraph (D) 
without regard to the notice and opportunity for a hearing 
under such subsection. 
‘‘(E) An agent or attorney described in this subpara-
graph is an agent or attorney— 
‘‘(i) recognized pursuant to the second sentence 
of subparagraph (B); and 
‘‘(ii) whom the Secretary determines, after the 
90-day period described in such subparagraph, does 
not meet the qualifications and standards prescribed 
under paragraph (2).’’; and 
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(2) in subsection (b)— 
(A) 
by 
redesignating 
paragraphs 
(1) 
through (9) as subparagraphs (A) through (I), 
respectively; 
(B) in the matter preceding subparagraph 
(A), as redesignated, by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before 
‘‘The Secretary’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph: 
‘‘(2) Not later than one year after the date of the 
enactment of the Preserving Lawful Utilization of Services 
for Veterans Act of 2023 and annually thereafter, the Sec-
retary shall submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs 
of the Senate and House of Representatives a report re-
garding the number of individuals suspended under this 
subsection or denied recognition under subsection (a), 
disaggregated by the reasons for such suspension or denial 
and whether the individual is— 
‘‘(A) a representative of an organization recog-
nized under section 5902 of this title; 
‘‘(B) an agent; or 
‘‘(C) an attorney.’’. 
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SEC. 4. FEES ALLOWABLE FOR REPRESENTATION OF VET-
ERANS FOR CLAIMS UNDER LAWS ADMINIS-
TERED BY SECRETARY OF VETERANS AF-
FAIRS. 
(a) FEES.—Section 5904 of title 38, United States 
Code, as amended by section 3, is further amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)(5), by striking ‘‘prepara-
tion, presentation, and prosecution of a claim before 
the Department’’ and inserting ‘‘course of represen-
tation described in subsection (c)(2)’’; 
(2) in subsection (c)— 
(A) in the heading, by inserting ‘‘FLAT 
FEE AGREEMENTS.—’’ after ‘‘(c)’’; 
(B) by amending paragraph (1) to read as 
follows: 
‘‘(1)(A) In a case other than a case described in para-
graph (2), a fee agreement between a claimant and an 
agent or attorney, with respect to the preparation, presen-
tation, or prosecution of a claim under a law administered 
by the Secretary, shall be a fee agreement under— 
‘‘(i) this paragraph, using a standard agree-
ment form prescribed by the Secretary; 
‘‘(ii) subsection (d); or 
‘‘(iii) subsection (e). 
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‘‘(B) A fee agreement under this paragraph is one 
under which the total amount payable by the claimant to 
the agent or attorney with respect to the claim— 
‘‘(i) may not exceed $12,500 (as adjusted from 
time to time under subparagraph (C)); and 
‘‘(ii) is contingent on whether the claim is re-
solved in a manner favorable to the claimant. 
‘‘(C) Effective on October 1 of each year (beginning 
in the first fiscal year after the date of the enactment of 
the Preserving Lawful Utilization of Services for Veterans 
Act of 2023), the Secretary shall increase the dollar 
amount in effect under clause (i) of subparagraph (B) by 
a percentage equal to the percentage by which the Con-
sumer Price Index for all urban consumers (U.S. city aver-
age) increased during the 12-month period ending with 
the last month for which Consumer Price Index data is 
available. In the event that such Consumer Price Index 
does not increase during such period, the Secretary shall 
maintain the dollar amount in effect under such clause 
during the previous fiscal year. 
‘‘(D) The limitation under subparagraph (B)(i) does 
not apply to any fee charged, allowed, or paid for services 
provided with respect to proceedings before a court. 
‘‘(E) For purposes of subparagraph (B)(ii), a claim 
shall be considered to have been resolved in a manner fa-
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vorable to the claimant if all or any part of the relief 
sought is granted. 
‘‘(F) The form prescribed by the Secretary under 
subparagraph (A)(i) shall include the following notifica-
tions to the claimant: 
‘‘(i) That organizations recognized under sec-
tion 5902 of this title furnish services concerning 
claims under laws administered by the Secretary, at 
no cost to claimants. 
‘‘(ii) That the claimant may select a private 
physician for a medical examination described in sec-
tion 5125 of this title regarding the claim. 
‘‘(iii) That such agent or attorney may not 
refer the claimant to a private physician described in 
clause (ii) with whom the agent or attorney has a 
business relationship regarding the claim.’’; 
(C) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘referred 
to in paragraph (1) of this subsection’’ and in-
serting ‘‘regarding a claim under a law adminis-
tered by the Secretary’’; 
(D) in paragraph (3)(A), by striking 
‘‘paragraph (2)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph (1) 
or (2)’’; and 
(E) by striking paragraph (4); and 
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(3) by adding at the end the following new sub-
section (e): 
‘‘(e) PAYMENT OF FEES OUT OF AN AWARD OR IN-
CREASED AWARD.—(1) When a claimant and an agent or 
attorney have entered into a fee agreement described in 
paragraph (2), the total fee payable to the agent or attor-
ney (including all ancillary fees) may not exceed the 
amount that is equal to the product of five and the amount 
of the monthly increase of benefits awarded on the basis 
of the claim. 
‘‘(2) A fee agreement referred to in paragraph (1) 
is one under which the total amount of the fee payable 
to the agent or attorney— 
‘‘(A) is to be paid to the agent or attorney by 
the claimant, after commencement of the monthly 
period of payment of monetary benefits based on an 
award or increased award (as defined in section 
5111(d) of this title); and 
‘‘(B) is contingent on whether the matter is re-
solved in a manner favorable to the claimant. 
‘‘(3) For the purposes of this subsection, a claim shall 
be considered to have been resolved in a manner favorable 
to the claimant if all or any part of the relief sought is 
granted.’’. 
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(b) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 
prescribe regulations to carry out the amendments made 
by this section. 
SEC. 5. REINSTATEMENT OF PENALTIES FOR CHARGING 
VETERANS UNAUTHORIZED FEES RELATING 
TO CLAIMS UNDER LAWS ADMINISTERED BY 
THE SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 5905 of title 38, United 
States Code, is amended— 
(1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘Pen-
alty’’ and inserting ‘‘Penalties’’; 
(2) by inserting ‘‘(a) WITHHOLDING OF BENE-
FITS.—’’ before ‘‘Whoever’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following new sub-
section: 
‘‘(b) CHARGING OF UNAUTHORIZED FEES.—Except 
as provided in sections 5904 or 1984 of this title, whoever 
directly or indirectly solicits, contracts for, charges, or re-
ceives, or attempts to solicit, contract for, charge, or re-
ceive, any fee or compensation with respect to the prepara-
tion, presentation, or prosecution of any claim for benefits 
under the laws administered by the Secretary shall be 
fined as provided in title 18, or imprisoned not more than 
one year, or both.’’. 
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(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 
at the beginning of chapter 59 of such title is amended 
by striking the item relating to section 5905 and inserting 
the following new item: 
‘‘5905. Penalties for certain acts.’’. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall take effect one year after the date of 
the enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
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