Protecting Benefits for Disabled Veterans Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 5028 To amend title 38, United States Code, to codify the authority of the Sec- retary of Veterans Affairs to assign a disability rating of total to a veteran by reason of unemployability, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES NOVEMBER 8, 2019 Ms. WATERS (for herself, Ms. NORTON, Mr. KILMER, Mrs. BEATTY, Ms. TLAIB, and Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To amend title 38, United States Code, to codify the author- ity of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to assign a disability rating of total to a veteran by reason of unemployability, 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 ‘‘Protecting Benefits 4 for Disabled Veterans Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 Nov 19, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5028.IH H5028 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 5028 IH SEC. 2. CODIFICATION OF INDIVIDUAL UNEMPLOYABILITY. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 11 of title 38, United 2 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 1163 3 the following: 4 ‘‘§ 1164. Determination of total disability by reason of 5 unemployability 6 ‘‘(a) AUTHORITY.—Subject to subsections (b) and 7 (c), for the purposes of this chapter, in the case of a vet- 8 eran who has a service-connected disability, or service-con- 9 nected disabilities, not rated as total, the Secretary may 10 assign a disability rating of total to the veteran if the Sec- 11 retary determines the veteran— 12 ‘‘(1) is unable to secure or maintain substan- 13 tially gainful employment as a result of, in part or 14 in whole, a service-connected disability; and 15 ‘‘(2) has— 16 ‘‘(A) a service-connected disability rated at 17 least 60 percent; or 18 ‘‘(B) two or more service-connected disabil- 19 ities— 20 ‘‘(i) at least one of which is rated at 21 least 40 percent; and 22 ‘‘(ii) that, combined, are rated at least 23 70 percent. 24 ‘‘(b) DETERMINATION OF CERTAIN DISABILITIES.— 25 For the above purpose of service-connected disabilities de- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 Nov 19, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5028.IH H5028 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 5028 IH scribed in subsection (a)(2), the Secretary shall consider 1 as one disability the following: 2 ‘‘(1) Disabilities of one or both upper extrem- 3 ities, or of one or both lower extremities, including 4 the bilateral factor, if applicable. 5 ‘‘(2) Disabilities resulting from common eti- 6 ology or a single accident. 7 ‘‘(3) Disabilities affecting a single body system 8 (including orthopedic, digestive, respiratory, cardio- 9 vascular-renal, and neuropsychiatric). 10 ‘‘(4) Disabilities incurred or aggravated as a 11 prisoner of war. 12 ‘‘(c) ADDITIONAL AUTHORITY OF THE SECRETARY 13 TO ASSIGN A DISABILITY RATING OF TOTAL.—The Sec- 14 retary may assign a disability rating of total to a veteran 15 who has a service-connected disability or disabilities de- 16 scribed in subsection (a)(2)— 17 ‘‘(1) if the veteran maintains marginal employ- 18 ment; or 19 ‘‘(2) if— 20 ‘‘(A) the veteran maintains substantially 21 gainful employment; and 22 ‘‘(B) the Secretary, considering the totality 23 of circumstances (including total household 24 medical expenses and the cost of living in the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 Nov 19, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5028.IH H5028 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 5028 IH area in which the veteran resides), determines 1 that such assignation is appropriate. 2 ‘‘(d) PROHIBITION ON THE CONSIDERATION OF CER- 3 TAIN FACTORS.—In making any determination under sub- 4 section (a) or (c), the Secretary may not consider the fol- 5 lowing: 6 ‘‘(1) The age of a veteran. 7 ‘‘(2) The eligibility of a veteran for any retire- 8 ment benefit, including any benefit under title II of 9 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 401 et seq.). 10 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 11 ‘‘(1) The term ‘marginal employment’ means 12 employment for which the earned annual income is 13 less than 100 percent of the official poverty thresh- 14 old for an individual established by the United 15 States Census Bureau. 16 ‘‘(2) The term ‘substantially gainful employ- 17 ment’ means employment for which the earned an- 18 nual income equals or exceeds 100 percent of the of- 19 ficial poverty threshold for an individual established 20 by the United States Census Bureau.’’. 21 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 22 at the beginning of chapter 11 of title 38, United States 23 Code, is amended by adding after the item relating to sec- 24 tion 1163 the following: 25 ‘‘1164. Determination of total disability by reason of unemployability.’’. VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 Nov 19, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H5028.IH H5028 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 5028 IH (c) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days after 1 the effective date of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans 2 Affairs shall prescribe such regulations as may be nec- 3 essary to carry out this section. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 Nov 19, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H5028.IH H5028 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS