SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veterans Quality of 
Life Study Act of 2007’’. 
SEC. 2. STUDY ON DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS 
SCHEDULE FOR RATING DISABILITIES. 
(a) STUDY REQUIRED.—Not later than 60 days after 
the date of the enactment, the Secretary shall contract 
with the Institute of Medicine, or other appropriate entity, 
to conduct a study analyzing the extent to which the 
schedule for rating disabilities prescribed by the Secretary 
of Veterans Affairs pursuant to section 1155 of title 38, 
United States Code, accounts for or should be amended 
or expanded to account, measure, and compensate for loss 
of quality of life to veterans due to a disability resulting 
from a personal injury suffered, physical or mental, or dis-
ease contracted in the line of duty, or for aggravation of 
a preexisting injury suffered or disease contracted in the 
line of duty. 
(b) CONTENTS OF STUDY.—The study which will be 
completed by the Institute of Medicine, or other appro-
priate entity, within 180 days after contracting with the 
Secretary shall be carried out pursuant to subsection (a) 
and shall— 
(1) examine— 
(A) the extent to which the schedule for 
rating disabilities, as in effect on the date of 
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the enactment of this Act, accounts for loss of 
quality of life; and 
(B) specific approaches and instruments 
for measuring— 
(i) the effect of a service-connected 
disability on a veteran’s quality of life, in-
cluding the veteran’s psychological state, 
loss of physical integrity, and social 
inadaptability; and 
(ii) the ways in which quality of life 
disability compensation is managed under 
various other disability programs of Fed-
eral and State governments and in other 
countries; 
(2) include recommendations with respect to— 
(A) the appropriate standards for deter-
mining whether a service-connected disability 
has caused a loss in the veterans’ quality of life; 
(B) the means for determining the appro-
priate level of compensation for loss of quality 
of life; and 
(C) the practicability of implementing 
quality of life evaluations in the course of pro-
viding the benefits relating to disability com-
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pensation and pension administered by the Sec-
retary of Veterans Affairs; 
(3) take into account advice and information re-
ceived through consultations carried out with public 
and private entities, veteran service organizations, 
agencies, advocacy groups, and, if necessary, other 
consultants, with particular attention paid to how to 
manage any changes for veterans who are receiving 
disability compensation under chapter 11 of title 38, 
United States Code, as of the date of the enactment 
of this Act; and 
(4) include such other matters as the Secretary 
and the entity carrying out the study determine are 
appropriate. 
(c) REPORT.—Not later than 60 days after the com-
pletion of the study required under subsection (a), the Sec-
retary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to Congress a re-
port that includes the following: 
(1) The Secretary’s recommendations with re-
spect to the findings and conclusions of the study re-
garding accounting for the loss of quality of life in 
the schedule for rating disabilities prescribed by the 
Secretary of Veterans Affairs pursuant to section 
1155 of title 38, United States Code. 
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(2) The Secretary’s recommendations with re-
spect to compensation that should be paid by the 
Department of Veterans Affairs to veterans for loss 
of quality of life and the basis for determining the 
amount of any such compensation. 
SEC. 3. TREATMENT OF CLAIMS UPON DEATH OF CLAIM-
ANT. 
(a) TREATMENT OF BENEFICIARY OF VETERAN’S 
ACCRUED BENEFITS AS CLAIMANT FOR PURPOSES OF IN-
COMPLETE CLAIMS UPON DEATH OF VETERAN.—Title 
38, United States Code, is amended by inserting after sec-
tion 5121 the following: 
‘‘§ 5121A. Death of claimant 
‘‘If a veteran who is a claimant dies while a pending 
claim is awaiting final adjudication for any benefit under 
a law administered by the Secretary, the person who would 
receive any accrued benefits due to the veteran under sec-
tion 5121(a)(2) of this title shall be treated as the claim-
ant for the purposes of processing to completion the pend-
ing claim. If the person who would receive such accrued 
benefits does not want to be treated as the claimant under 
this subsection, that person may designate to be treated 
as the claimant under this subsection the person who 
would receive such benefits upon the death of the person 
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who would otherwise be treated as the claimant under the 
preceding sentence.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply with respect to the claim of any 
veteran who dies on or after the date of the enactment 
of this Act. 
SEC. 4. ANNUAL REPORTS ON WORKLOAD OF UNITED 
STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR VETERANS 
CLAIMS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter III of chapter 72 of 
title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 
end the following new section: 
‘‘§ 7288. Annual report 
‘‘The chief judge of the Court shall annually submit 
to the Committee on Veterans Affairs’ of the Senate and 
the Committee on Veterans Affairs’ of the House of Rep-
resentatives a report summarizing the workload of the 
Court during the last fiscal year that ended before the sub-
mission of such report. Such report shall include, with re-
spect to such fiscal year, the following information: 
‘‘(1) The number of appeals filed. 
‘‘(2) The number of petitions filed. 
‘‘(3) The number of applications filed under 
section 2412 of title 28. 
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