Title: Veterans Benefits Fairness and Transparency Act of 2020
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security

Summary:
Veterans Benefits Fairness and Transparency Act of 2020
This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to publish on its website the disability benefit questionnaire forms for non-VA medical providers submitting evidence regarding a disability of a claimant for purposes of VA benefits.
If the VA updates the questionnaire form, previous versions of the form filed by claimants must be accepted for up to one year after the form was updated.
The VA may waive interagency approval processes required to approve a modification to a form if such requirement applies by reason of the form being made public on the website as required by the bill.
The Inspector General of the VA must, through 2026, annually report on the use of such forms.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4412 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4412

   To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the ability of 
veterans to access and submit disability benefit questionnaire forms of 
      the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             August 4, 2020

Mr. Tester (for himself and Mr. Rounds) introduced the following bill; 
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the ability of 
veterans to access and submit disability benefit questionnaire forms of 
      the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Veterans Benefits Fairness and 
Transparency Act of 2020''.

SEC. 2. PUBLICATION AND ACCEPTANCE OF DISABILITY BENEFIT QUESTIONNAIRE 
              FORMS OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.

    (a) In General.--Section 5101 of title 38, United States Code, is 
amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsection (d) as subsection (e); and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (c) the following new 
        subsection (d):
    ``(d)(1) The Secretary shall publish in a central location on the 
internet website of the Department disability benefit questionnaire 
forms, or such successor forms relating to non-Department medical 
providers submitting evidence regarding a disability of a claimant.
    ``(2) Subject to section 6103 of this title, if the Secretary 
updates a form described in paragraph (1), the Secretary shall--
            ``(A) accept the previous version of the form filed by a 
        claimant if--
                    ``(i) the claimant provided to the non-Department 
                medical provider the previous version of the form 
                before the date on which the updated version of the 
                form was made available; and
                    ``(ii) the claimant files the previous version of 
                the form during the one-year period following the date 
                the form was completed by the non-Department medical 
                provider;
            ``(B) request from the claimant any other information that 
        the updated version of the form requires; and
            ``(C) apply the laws and regulations required to adjudicate 
        the claim as if the claimant filed the updated version of the 
        form.
    ``(3) The Secretary may waive any interagency approval process 
required to approve a modification to a disability benefit 
questionnaire form if such requirement only applies by reason of the 
forms being made public under paragraph (1).
    ``(4) Not less frequently than once each year through 2026, the 
Inspector General of the Department shall submit to Congress a report 
on the findings of the Inspector General with respect to the use of the 
forms described in paragraph (1).''.
    (b) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in section 5101 of title 38, 
United States Code, as added by subsection (a), may be construed to 
require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to develop any new 
information technology system or otherwise require the Secretary to 
make any significant changes to the internet website of the Department 
of Veterans Affairs.
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