I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4527 
To require the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
to permit supplementation of health records of deceased veterans, and 
for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 17, 2025 
Mr. RUIZ (for himself and Mr. BILIRAKIS) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the 
Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, for a period to be subsequently deter-
mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 
as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To require the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs to permit supplementation of health 
records of deceased veterans, 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 ‘‘Health Records En-
hancement Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. SUPPLEMENTATION OF HEALTH RECORDS OF DE-
CEASED VETERANS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense 
and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall jointly take 
actions necessary to ensure that the health records of the 
Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans 
Affairs may be updated with observed health conditions 
and other relevant health information of a deceased en-
rollee by— 
(1) an individual designated by such deceased 
enrollee; or 
(2) if no such individual is designated, an im-
mediate family member of such deceased enrollee. 
(b) DESIGNATION.—The Secretary of Defense and 
the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall jointly provide for 
a process by which an individual may make a designation 
for purposes of subsection (a)(1). 
(c) NO MODIFICATION OF HEALTH INFORMATION.— 
Any update under subsection (a) shall supplement infor-
mation contained in the health records of a deceased en-
rollee and shall not modify information contained in such 
records. 
(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
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(1) IMMEDIATE
FAMILY
MEMBER.—The term 
‘‘immediate family member’’, with respect to a de-
ceased enrollee, means— 
(A) the spouse, parent, brother, sister, or 
adult child of the individual; or 
(B) an adult person to whom the indi-
vidual stands in loco parentis. 
(2) DECEASED
ENROLLEE.—The term ‘‘de-
ceased enrollee’’ means any individual who, at the 
time of his or her death— 
(A) was enrolled in the patient enrollment 
system of the Department of Veterans Affairs 
established and operated under section 1705(a) 
of title 38, United States Code; or 
(B) was entitled to care under the 
TRICARE program, as defined in section 1072 
of title 10, United States Code. 
Æ 
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