VA AID Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1071 To authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a pilot program to provide pension claim enhancement assistance to individuals submit- ting claims for pension from the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 12, 2021 Mr. CRUZ introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a pilot program to provide pension claim enhancement assistance to individuals submitting claims for pension from the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veterans Application 4 Assistance Inefficiency Decrease Act of 2021’’ or the ‘‘VA 5 AID Act of 2021’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:33 Apr 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1071.IS S1071 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1071 IS SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM TO PROVIDE CLAIM ENHANCE- 1 MENT ASSISTANCE TO INDIVIDUALS SUBMIT- 2 TING CLAIMS FOR DEPARTMENT OF VET- 3 ERANS AFFAIRS PENSION. 4 (a) PILOT PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—Not later than 5 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 6 Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall commence carrying out 7 a pilot program to assess the feasibility and advisability 8 of providing claim enhancement assistance to individuals 9 applying for pension under subchapter II or III of chapter 10 15 of title 38, United States Code, in order to reduce the 11 backlog of the Department of Veterans Affairs for claims 12 for pension under such chapter and to expedite claims 13 processing by— 14 (1) improving the efficiency of the claims sub- 15 mittal process; and 16 (2) proactively engaging claimants with claim 17 enhancement services prior to submission of their 18 claims. 19 (b) CLAIM ENHANCEMENT ASSISTANCE.—For pur- 20 poses of this subsection, claim enhancement assistance in- 21 cludes, with respect to submitting claims described in sub- 22 section (a), the following: 23 (1) Consultive services to assess and advise 24 claimants based upon a review of each claimant’s 25 specific circumstances. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:33 Apr 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1071.IS S1071 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1071 IS (2) Assistance in gathering all necessary sup- 1 porting documentation for the submission. 2 (3) The creation of a fully developed application 3 ready to be submitted to the Pension Management 4 Centers of the Department of Veterans Affairs with 5 postal tracking. 6 (4) Such other assistance and services as the 7 Secretary considers appropriate for purposes of the 8 pilot program. 9 (c) CONTRACT.—The Secretary shall carry out the 10 pilot program by entering into a contract with one eligible 11 entity to provide, as part of the pilot program, claim en- 12 hancement assistance to individuals and spouses applying 13 for pension under subchapter II or III of chapter 15 of 14 title 38, United State Code. 15 (d) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—For purposes of this sec- 16 tion, an eligible entity is any entity that— 17 (1) is not part of the Department of Veterans 18 Affairs; 19 (2) specializes in matters relating to one spe- 20 cific benefit exclusively for five or more years that 21 is provided under laws administered by the Sec- 22 retary, such as pension under chapter 15 of such 23 title; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:33 Apr 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1071.IS S1071 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1071 IS (3) does not engage in the promotion or sale of 1 financial products of any type, including annuities; 2 (4) is not affiliated with any entity that is en- 3 gaged in promotion or sale described in paragraph 4 (3); 5 (5) does not manage the assets of veterans or 6 the survivors of veterans; 7 (6) is not a fiduciary (as defined in section 8 5506 of such title) for any person submitting a 9 claim for pension under chapter 15 of such title or 10 in receipt of pension under such chapter; 11 (7) is not a fiduciary under section 5502 of 12 such title; 13 (8) has at least one owner that is recognized by 14 the Secretary under section 5904 of such title as an 15 agent or attorney for the preparation, presentation, 16 and prosecution of claims under laws administered 17 by the Secretary; 18 (9) does not provide health care for a claimant 19 receiving claim enhancement assistance from the en- 20 tity as part of the pilot program; and 21 (10) demonstrates to the Secretary that it has 22 the ability to provide claim enhancement assistance 23 in sufficient volume by having current systems, proc- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:33 Apr 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1071.IS S1071 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1071 IS esses, and procedures in place that are of sufficient 1 scale. 2 (e) DURATION.—The Secretary shall carry out the 3 pilot program during the three-year period beginning on 4 the date of the commencement of the pilot program. 5 (f) REVIEW, STUDY, AND REPORT BY COMPTROLLER 6 GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES.—Not later than 90 7 days after the date of the completion of the pilot program, 8 the Comptroller General of the United States shall— 9 (1) complete a review of the pilot program; 10 (2) complete a study on the feasibility and ad- 11 visability of permanently extending claim enhance- 12 ment services to individuals and spouses applying for 13 pension under subchapter II or III of chapter 15 of 14 such title; and 15 (3) submit to Congress a report on the findings 16 of the Comptroller General with respect to the re- 17 view conducted under paragraph (1) and the study 18 conducted under paragraph (2). 19 (g) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec- 20 tion shall be construed— 21 (1) to limit the right of a veteran to apply for 22 pension under chapter 15 of title 38, United States 23 Code; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:33 Apr 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1071.IS S1071 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1071 IS (2) to authorize the Secretary to limit such 1 right. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:33 Apr 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1071.IS S1071 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS