PLUS for Veterans Act of 2023

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1789 To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the review of claims for benefits under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 1, 2023 Mr. KENNEDY 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 review of claims for benefits under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. 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 ‘‘Preserving Lawful Uti- 4 lization of Services for Veterans Act of 2023’’ or the 5 ‘‘PLUS for Veterans Act of 2023’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1789.IS S1789 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1789 IS SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION OF PREPARATION, PRESENTATION, 1 OR PROSECUTION OF A CLAIM UNDER A LAW 2 ADMINISTERED BY SECRETARY OF VET- 3 ERANS AFFAIRS. 4 Section 5901 of title 38, United States Code, is 5 amended— 6 (1) by striking ‘‘Except’’ and inserting the fol- 7 lowing: 8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Except’’; and 9 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub- 10 section: 11 ‘‘(b) EXCLUSION.—The administration of a medical 12 examination, or the writing of a report based on such ex- 13 amination, described in section 5125 of this title, does not 14 constitute the preparation, presentation, or prosecution of 15 a claim described in subsection (a).’’. 16 SEC. 3. AGENTS AND ATTORNEYS IN CLAIMS UNDER LAWS 17 ADMINISTERED BY SECRETARY OF VET- 18 ERANS AFFAIRS: RECOGNITION; SUSPENSION. 19 Section 5904 of title 38, United States Code, is 20 amended— 21 (1) in subsection (a)(1)— 22 (A) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ before ‘‘Except’’; 23 and 24 (B) by adding at the end the following new 25 subparagraphs: 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1789.IS S1789 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1789 IS ‘‘(B)(i) The Secretary shall determine whether to rec- 1 ognize under subparagraph (A) an agent or attorney who 2 applies for such recognition not later than 90 days after 3 the Secretary receives such application. 4 ‘‘(ii) If the Secretary cannot verify whether the agent 5 or attorney meets the qualifications and standards pre- 6 scribed under paragraph (2) before the end of such 90 7 days, the Secretary shall recognize the agent or attorney 8 under such subparagraph. 9 ‘‘(C) The Secretary may not refuse to recognize 10 under subparagraph (A) an agent or attorney solely on 11 the basis that such agent or attorney charges a claimant 12 a fee for services rendered in the preparation, presen- 13 tation, or prosecution of a claim. 14 ‘‘(D) The Secretary may suspend under subsection 15 (b) an agent or attorney described in subparagraph (E) 16 without regard to the notice and opportunity for a hearing 17 under such subsection. 18 ‘‘(E) An agent or attorney described in this subpara- 19 graph is an agent or attorney— 20 ‘‘(i) recognized pursuant to subparagraph 21 (B)(ii); and 22 ‘‘(ii) whom the Secretary determines, after the 23 90-day period described in such subparagraph, does 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1789.IS S1789 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1789 IS not meet the qualifications and standards prescribed 1 under paragraph (2).’’; and 2 (2) in subsection (b)— 3 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) 4 through (9) as subparagraphs (A) through (I), 5 respectively; 6 (B) in the matter preceding subparagraph 7 (A), as redesignated, by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before 8 ‘‘The Secretary’’; and 9 (C) by adding at the end the following new 10 paragraph: 11 ‘‘(2) Not later than one year after the date of the 12 enactment of the Preserving Lawful Utilization of Services 13 for Veterans Act of 2023 and annually thereafter, the Sec- 14 retary shall submit to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 15 of the Senate and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of 16 the House of Representatives a report regarding the num- 17 ber of individuals suspended under this subsection or de- 18 nied recognition under subsection (a), disaggregated by 19 the reasons for such suspension or denial and whether the 20 individual is— 21 ‘‘(A) a representative of an organization recog- 22 nized under section 5902 of this title; 23 ‘‘(B) an agent; or 24 ‘‘(C) an attorney.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1789.IS S1789 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1789 IS SEC. 4. FEES ALLOWABLE FOR REPRESENTATION OF VET- 1 ERANS FOR CLAIMS UNDER LAWS ADMINIS- 2 TERED BY SECRETARY OF VETERANS AF- 3 FAIRS. 4 (a) FEES.—Section 5904 of title 38, United States 5 Code, as amended by section 3, is further amended— 6 (1) in subsection (a)(5), by striking ‘‘prepara- 7 tion, presentation, and prosecution of a claim before 8 the Department’’ and inserting ‘‘course of represen- 9 tation described in subsection (c)(2)’’; 10 (2) in subsection (c)— 11 (A) in the subsection heading, by inserting 12 ‘‘FLAT FEE AGREEMENTS.—’’ after ‘‘(c)’’; 13 (B) by amending paragraph (1) to read as 14 follows: 15 ‘‘(1)(A) In a case other than a case described in para- 16 graph (2), a fee agreement between a claimant and an 17 agent or attorney, with respect to the preparation, presen- 18 tation, or prosecution of a claim under a law administered 19 by the Secretary, shall be a fee agreement under— 20 ‘‘(i) this paragraph, using a standard agree- 21 ment form prescribed by the Secretary; 22 ‘‘(ii) subsection (d); or 23 ‘‘(iii) subsection (e). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1789.IS S1789 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1789 IS ‘‘(B) A fee agreement under this paragraph is one 1 under which the total amount payable by the claimant to 2 the agent or attorney with respect to the claim— 3 ‘‘(i) may not exceed $12,500 (as adjusted from 4 time to time under subparagraph (C)); and 5 ‘‘(ii) is contingent on whether the claim is re- 6 solved in a manner favorable to the claimant. 7 ‘‘(C) Effective on October 1 of each year (beginning 8 in the first fiscal year after the date of the enactment of 9 the Preserving Lawful Utilization of Services for Veterans 10 Act of 2023), the Secretary shall increase the dollar 11 amount in effect under clause (i) of subparagraph (B) by 12 a percentage equal to the percentage by which the Con- 13 sumer Price Index for all urban consumers (U.S. city aver- 14 age) increased during the 12-month period ending with 15 the last month for which Consumer Price Index data is 16 available. In the event that such Consumer Price Index 17 does not increase during such period, the Secretary shall 18 maintain the dollar amount in effect under such clause 19 during the previous fiscal year. 20 ‘‘(D) The limitation under subparagraph (B)(i) does 21 not apply to any fee charged, allowed, or paid for services 22 provided with respect to proceedings before a court. 23 ‘‘(E) For purposes of subparagraph (B)(ii), a claim 24 shall be considered to have been resolved in a manner fa- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1789.IS S1789 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1789 IS vorable to the claimant if all or any part of the relief 1 sought is granted. 2 ‘‘(F) The form prescribed by the Secretary under 3 subparagraph (A)(i) shall include the following notifica- 4 tions to the claimant: 5 ‘‘(i) That organizations recognized under sec- 6 tion 5902 of this title furnish services concerning 7 claims under laws administered by the Secretary, at 8 no cost to claimants. 9 ‘‘(ii) That the claimant may select a private 10 physician for a medical examination described in sec- 11 tion 5125 of this title regarding the claim. 12 ‘‘(iii) That such agent or attorney may not 13 refer the claimant to a private physician described in 14 clause (ii) with whom the agent or attorney has a 15 business relationship regarding the claim.’’; 16 (C) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘referred 17 to in paragraph (1) of this subsection’’ and in- 18 serting ‘‘regarding a claim under a law adminis- 19 tered by the Secretary’’; 20 (D) in paragraph (3)(A), by striking ‘‘to 21 paragraph (2)’’ and inserting ‘‘to paragraph (1) 22 or (2)’’; and 23 (E) by striking paragraph (4); and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1789.IS S1789 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1789 IS (3) by adding at the end the following new sub- 1 section: 2 ‘‘(e) PAYMENT OF FEES OUT OF AN AWARD OR IN- 3 CREASED AWARD.—(1) When a claimant and an agent or 4 attorney have entered into a fee agreement described in 5 paragraph (2), the total fee payable to the agent or attor- 6 ney (including all ancillary fees) may not exceed the 7 amount that is equal to the product of five and the amount 8 of the monthly increase of benefits awarded on the basis 9 of the claim. 10 ‘‘(2) A fee agreement referred to in paragraph (1) 11 is one under which the total amount of the fee payable 12 to the agent or attorney— 13 ‘‘(A) is to be paid to the agent or attorney by 14 the claimant, after commencement of the monthly 15 period of payment of monetary benefits based on an 16 award or increased award (as defined in section 17 5111(d) of this title); and 18 ‘‘(B) is contingent on whether the matter is re- 19 solved in a manner favorable to the claimant. 20 ‘‘(3) For the purposes of this subsection, a claim shall 21 be considered to have been resolved in a manner favorable 22 to the claimant if all or any part of the relief sought is 23 granted.’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1789.IS S1789 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1789 IS (b) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days after 1 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 2 prescribe regulations to carry out the amendments made 3 by this section. 4 SEC. 5. REINSTATEMENT OF PENALTIES FOR CHARGING 5 VETERANS UNAUTHORIZED FEES RELATING 6 TO CLAIMS UNDER LAWS ADMINISTERED BY 7 THE SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 5905 of title 38, United 9 States Code, is amended— 10 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘Pen- 11 alty’’ and inserting ‘‘Penalties’’; 12 (2) by striking ‘‘Whoever’’ and inserting the fol- 13 lowing: 14 ‘‘(a) WITHHOLDING OF BENEFITS.—Whoever’’; and 15 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub- 16 section: 17 ‘‘(b) CHARGING OF UNAUTHORIZED FEES.—Except 18 as provided in sections 5904 or 1984 of this title, whoever 19 directly or indirectly solicits, contracts for, charges, or re- 20 ceives, or attempts to solicit, contract for, charge, or re- 21 ceive, any fee or compensation with respect to the prepara- 22 tion, presentation, or prosecution of any claim for benefits 23 under a law administered by the Secretary shall be fined 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1789.IS S1789 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1789 IS as provided in title 18, or imprisoned not more than one 1 year, or both.’’. 2 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 3 at the beginning of chapter 59 of such title is amended 4 by striking the item relating to section 5905 and inserting 5 the following new item: 6 ‘‘5905. Penalties for certain acts.’’. (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 7 this section shall take effect one year after the date of 8 the enactment of this Act. 9 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1789.IS S1789 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS