Veterans Claims Assistance Act of 2000
PL 106-475 (H.R.4864), enacted 11/09/2000

114 STAT. 2096 
PUBLIC LAW 106-475—NOV. 9, 2000 
Public Law 106-475 
106th Congress 
An Act 
N 
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"^^ amend title 38, United States Code, to reafBrm and clarify the duty of the 
———: 
Secretary of Veterans Affairs to assist claimants for benefits under laws adminis-
[H.R. 4864] 
tered by the Secretary, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives 
of 
Veterans Claims 
the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
^sistance Act of 
g E c n O N 1. SHORT TITLE. 
38 use 101 note. 
-pj^g ^^^ jj^^y ^g cited as the "Veterans Claims Assistance 
Act of 2000". 
SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION OF DEFINITION OF "CLAIMANT" FOR PUR-
POSES OF VETERANS CLAIMS. 
Chapter 51 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by 
inserting before section 5101 the following new section: 
"§ 5100. DeHnition of 'claimant' 
"For purposes of this chapter, the term 'claimant' means any 
individual appl5dng for, or submitting a claim for, any benefit under 
the laws administered by the Secretary.". 
SEC. 3. ASSISTANCE TO CLAIMANTS. 
(a) REAFFIRMATION AND CLARIFICATION OF DUTY TO ASSIST.— 
Chapter 51 of title 38, United States Code, is further amended 
by striking sections 5102 and 5103 and inserting the following: 
**§5102. Application forms furnished upon request; notice 
to claimants of incomplete applications 
"(a) FURNISHING FORMS.—^Upon request made by any person 
claiming or appl3dng for, or expressing an intent to claim or apply 
for, a benefit under the laws administered by the Secretary, the 
Secretary shall furnish such person, free of all expense, all instruc-
tions and forms necessary to apply for that benefit. 
"(b) INCOMPLETE APPLICATIONS.—If a claimant's application for 
a benefit under the laws administered by the Secretary is incom-
plete, the Secretary shall notify the claimant and the claimant's 
representative, if any, of the information necessary to complete 
the application. 
"§ 5103. Notice to claimants of required information and evi-
dence 
"(a) REQUIRED INFORMATION AND EVIDENCE.—^Upon receipt of 
a complete or substantially complete application, the Secretary shall 
notify the claimant and the claimant's representative, if any, of 
any information, and any medical or lay evidence, not previously 
provided to the Secretary that is necessary to substantiate the 
PUBLIC LAW 106-475—NOV. 9, 2000 
114 STAT. 2097 
claim. As part of that notice, the Secretary shall indicate which 
portion of that information and evidence, if any, is to be provided 
by the claimant and which portion, if any, the Secretary, in accord-
ance with section 5103A of this title and any other applicable 
provisions of law, will attempt to obtain on behalf of the claimant. 
"(b) TIME LIMITATION.—(1) In the case of information or evi-
dence that the claimant is notified under subsection (a) is to be 
provided by the claimant, if such information or evidence is not 
received by the Secretary within 1 year from the date of such 
notification, no benefit may be paid or furnished by reason of 
the claimant's application. 
"(2) This subsection shall not apply to any application or claim 
for Government life insurance benefits. 
*
*
§ 5103A. Duty to assist claimants 
"(a) DUTY TO ASSIST.—(1) The Secretary shall make reasonable 
efforts to assist a claimant in obtaining evidence necessary to 
substantiate the claimant's claim for a benefit under a law adminis-
tered by the Secretary. 
"(2) The Secretary is not required to provide assistance to 
a claimant under this section if no reasonable possibility exists 
that such assistance would aid in substantiating the claim. 
"(3) The Secretary may defer providing assistance under this 
section pending the submission by the claimant of essential informa-
tion missing from the claimant's application. 
"(b) ASSISTANCE IN OBTAINING RECORDS.—(1) As part of the 
assistance provided under subsection (a), the Secretary shall make 
reasonable efforts to obtain relevant records (including private 
records) that the claimant adequately identifies to the Secretary 
and authorizes the Secretary to obtain. 
"(2) Whenever the Secretary, after making such reasonable 
efforts, is unable to obtain all of the relevant records sought, the 
Secretary shall notify the claimant that the Secretary is unable 
to obtain records with respect to the claim. Such a notification 
shall— 
"(A) identify the records the Secretary is unable to obtain; 
"(B) briefly explain the efforts that the Secretary made 
to obtain those records; and 
"(C) describe any further action to be taken by the Sec-
retary with respect to the claim. 
"(3) Whenever the Secretary attempts to obtain records from 
a Federal department or agency under this subsection or subsection 
(c), the efforts to obtain those records shall continue until the 
records are obtained unless it is reasonably certain that such records 
do not exist or that further efforts to obtain those records would 
be futile. 
"(c) OBTAINING RECORDS FOR COMPENSATION CLAIMS.—In the 
case of a claim for disability compensation, the assistance provided 
by the Secretary under subsection (b) shall include obtaining the 
following records if relevant to the claim: 
"(1) The claimant's service medical records and, if the claim-
ant has furnished the Secretary information sufficient to locate 
such records, other relevant records pertaining to the claimant's 
active military, naval, or air service that are held or maintained 
by a governmental entity. 
"(2) Records of relevant medical treatment or examination 
of the claimant at Department health-care facilities or at the 
114 STAT. 2098 
PUBLIC LAW 106-475—NOV. 9, 2000 
expense of the Department, if the claimant furnishes informa-
tion sufficient to locate those records. 
"(3) Any other relevant records held by any Federal depart-
ment or agency that the claimant adequately identifies and 
authorizes the Secretary to obtain. 
"(d) MEDICAL EXAMINATIONS FOR COMPENSATION CLAIMS.—(1) 
In the case of a claim for disability compensation, the assistance 
provided by the Secretary under subsection (a) shall include pro-
viding a medical examination or obtaining a medical opinion when 
such an examination or opinion is necessary to make a decision 
on the claim. 
"(2) The Secretary shall treat an examination or opinion as 
being necessary to make a decision on a claim for purposes of 
paragraph (1) if the evidence of record before the Secretary, taking 
into consideration all information and lay or medical evidence 
(including statements of the claimant)— 
"(A) contains competent evidence that the claimant has 
a current disability, or persistent or recurrent symptoms of 
disability; and 
"(B) indicates that the disability or symptoms may be asso-
ciated with the claimant's active military, naval, or air service; 
but 
"(C) does not contain sufficient medical evidence for the 
Secretary to make a decision on the claim. 
"(e) REGULATIONS.—^The Secretary shall prescribe regulations 
to carry out this section. 
"(f) RULE WITH RESPECT TO DISALLOWED CLAIMS.—Nothing 
in this section shall be construed to require the Secretary to reopen 
a claim that has been disallowed except when new and material 
evidence is presented or secured, as described in section 5108 of 
this title. 
"(g) OTHER ASSISTANCE NOT PRECLUDED.—^Nothing in this sec-
tion shall be construed as precluding the Secretary from providing 
such other assistance under subsection (a) to a claimant in substan-
tiating a claim as the Secretary considers appropriate.". 
(b) REENACTMENT OF RULE FOR CLAIMANT'S LACKING A MAILING 
ADDRESS.—Chapter 51 of such title is further amended by adding 
at the end the following new section: 
^'§5126. BeneHts not to be denied based on lack of mailing 
address 
"Benefits under laws administered by the Secretary may not 
be denied a claimant on the basis that the claimant does not 
have a mailing address.". 
SEC. 4. DECISION ON CLAIM. 
Section 5107 of title 38, United States Code, is amended to 
read as follows: 
'*§ 5107. Claimant responsibility; beneHt of the doubt 
"(a) CLAIMANT RESPONSIBILITY.—Except as otherwise provided 
by law, a claimant has the responsibility to present and support 
a claim for benefits under laws administered by the Secretary. 
"(b) BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT.—^The Secretary shall consider 
all information and lay and medical evidence of record in a case 
before the Secretary with respect to benefits under laws adminis-
tered by the Secretary. When there is an approximate balance 
PUBLIC LAW 106-475—NOV. 9, 2000 
114 STAT. 2099 
of positive and negative evidence regarding any issue material 
to the determination of a matter, the Secretary shall give the 
benefit of the doubt to the claimant.". 
SEC. 5
. 
PROHIBITION OF CHARGES FOR RECORDS FURNISHED BY 
OTHER 
FEDERAL 
DEPARTMENTS 
AND 
AGENCIES. 
Section 5106 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by 
adding at the end the following new sentence: "The cost of providing 
information to the Secretary under this section shall be borne 
by the department or agency providing the information.". 
SEC. 6, CLERICAL AMENDMENTS. 
The table of sections at the beginning of chapter 51 of title 
38, United States Code, is amended— 
(1) by inserting before the item relating to section 5101 
the following new item: 
"5100. Definition o f claimant'."; 
(2) by striking the items relating to sections 5102 and 
5103 and inserting the following: 
"5102. Application forms furnished upon request; notice to claimants of incomplete 
applications. 
"5103. Notice to claimants of required information and evidence. 
"5103A. Duty to assist claimants."; 
(3) by striking the item relating to section 5107 and 
inserting the following: 
"5107. Claimant responsibility; benefit of the doubt."; 
and 
(4) by adding at the end the following new item: 
"5126. Benefits not to be denied based on lack of mailing address.". 
SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
38 USC 5107 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as specifically provided otherwise, 
the provisions of section 5107 of title 38, United States Code, 
as amended by section 4 of this Act, apply to any claim— 
(1) filed on or after the date of the enactment of this 
Act; or 
(2) filed before the date of the enactment of this Act and 
not final as of that date. 
(b) RULE FOR CLAIMS THE DENIAL OF WHICH BECAME FINAL 
AFTER THE COURT OF APPEALS FOR VETERANS CLAIMS DECISION 
IN THE MORTON CASE.—(1) In the case of a claim for benefits 
denied or dismissed as described in paragraph (2), the Secretary 
of Veterans Affairs shall, upon the request of the claimant or 
on the Secretary's own motion, order the claim readjudicated under 
chapter 51 of such title, as amended by this Act, as if the denial 
or dismissal had not been made. 
(2) A denial or dismissal described in this paragraph is a 
denial or dismissal of a claim for a benefit under the laws adminis-
tered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs that— 
(A) became final during the period beginning on July 14, 
1999, and ending on the date of the enactment of this Act; 
and 
(B) was issued by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs or 
a court because the claim was not well grounded (as that 
114 STAT. 2100 
PUBLIC LAW 106-475—NOV. 9, 2000 
term was used in section 5107(a) of title 38, United States 
Code, as in effect during that period). 
(3) A claim may not be readjudic^ted under this subsection 
unless a request for readjudication is filed by the claimant, or 
a motion is made by the Secretary, not later than 2 years after 
the date of the enactment of this Act. 
(4) In the absence of a timely request of a claimant under 
paragraph (3), nothing in this Act shall be construed as establishing 
a duty on the part of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to locate 
and readjudicate a claim described in this subsection. 
Approved November 9, 2000. 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—H.R. 4864 (S. 1810): 
HOUSE REPORTS: No. 106-781 (Comm. on Veterans' Affairs). 
SENATE REPORTS: No. 106-397 accompanying S. 1810 (Comm. on Veterans' Af-
fairs). 
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 146 (2000): 
July 25, considered and passed House. 
Sept. 25, considered and passed Senate, amended. 
Oct. 17, House concurred in Senate amendment. 
WEEKLY COMPILATION OF PRESIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS, Vol. 36 (2000): 
Nov. 9, Presidential statement.