[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4646 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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117th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4646
To amend title 38, United States Code, to shorten the timeframe for
claims by beneficiaries and the payment of benefits under Department of
Veterans Affairs life insurance programs, to improve the management of
undisbursed life insurance benefits by the Department of Veterans
Affairs, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 27, 2022
Mr. Brown (for himself and Mr. Boozman) 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 shorten the timeframe for
claims by beneficiaries and the payment of benefits under Department of
Veterans Affairs life insurance programs, to improve the management of
undisbursed life insurance benefits by 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 ``Faster Payments to Veterans'
Survivors Act of 2022''.
SEC. 2. TIMEFRAME FOR CLAIMS BY BENEFICIARIES AND PAYMENT OF BENEFITS
UNDER DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS LIFE INSURANCE
PROGRAMS.
(a) National Service Life Insurance.--Section 1917(f)(1) of title
38, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``two years'' and
inserting ``one year''; and
(2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``four'' and inserting
``two''.
(b) United States Government Life Insurance.--Section 1952(c)(1) of
such title is amended--
(1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``two years'' and
inserting ``one year''; and
(2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``four'' and inserting
``two''.
(c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall
apply with respect to the death of an insured person occurring on or
after the date that is two years before the date of the enactment of
this Act.
SEC. 3. PROCESS FOR DESIGNATION OF BENEFICIARIES UNDER DEPARTMENT OF
VETERANS AFFAIRS LIFE INSURANCE PROGRAMS.
(a) National Service Life Insurance.--Section 1917 of title 38,
United States Code, is amended by striking subsection (a) and inserting
the following:
``(a)(1) The insured may designate a beneficiary or beneficiaries
of insurance maturing on or after August 1, 1946. The insured shall,
subject to regulations, at all times have the right to change the
beneficiary or beneficiaries of such insurance without the consent of
such beneficiary or beneficiaries.
``(2) If the insured does not designate a beneficiary under
paragraph (1) before the insured dies, or if a designated beneficiary
predeceases the insured, the Secretary shall determine the beneficiary
in the following order:
``(A) The surviving spouse of the insured.
``(B) The children of the insured and descendants of
deceased children by representation.
``(C) The parents of the insured or the survivors of the
parents.
``(D) The duly appointed executor or administrator of the
estate of the insured.
``(E) Other next of kin of the insured entitled under the
laws of domicile of the insured at the time of the death of the
insured.''.
(b) United States Government Life Insurance.--
(1) Change of beneficiary.--Section 1949 of such title is
amended by striking ``Subject to regulations'' and all that
follows through the period and inserting the following: ``The
insured may designate a beneficiary or beneficiaries of a
United States Government life insurance policy. Subject to
regulations, the insured shall at all times have the right to
change the beneficiary or beneficiaries of a United States
Government life insurance policy without the consent of such
beneficiary or beneficiaries.''.
(2) Payment to estates.--Section 1950 of such title is
amended to read as follows:
``Sec. 1950. Payment to estates
``If the insured does not designate a beneficiary under section
1949 of this title before the insured dies, or if a designated
beneficiary predeceases the insured, the Secretary shall determine the
beneficiary in the following order:
``(1) The surviving spouse of the insured.
``(2) The children of the insured and descendants of
deceased children by representation.
``(3) The parents of the insured or the survivors of the
parents.
``(4) The duly appointed executor or administrator of the
estate of the insured.
``(5) Other next of kin of the insured entitled under the
laws of domicile of the insured at the time of the death of the
insured.''.
(c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall
apply with respect to the death of an insured person occurring on or
after the date that is two years before the date of the enactment of
this Act.
SEC. 4. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS IMPROVEMENT OF MANAGEMENT OF
UNDISBURSED LIFE INSURANCE BENEFITS.
(a) Improvement of Processes.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs
shall improve the processes and procedures of the Department of
Veterans Affairs with respect to identifying, locating, and disbursing
undisbursed life insurance benefits to hard-to-find beneficiaries of
life insurance policies issued under chapter 19 of title 38, United
States Code, including by--
(1) improving the search tools available on the website of
the Department;
(2) conducting outreach to veterans, veterans service
organizations, and the general public with respect to such
search tools;
(3) improving the processes for searching for information
relating to potential recipients of undisbursed life insurance
benefits through internal Department sources and sources
available through other Federal agencies, State government
agencies, and non-government entities; and
(4) ensuring the Department has sufficient dedicated staff
whose primary responsibilities are identifying, locating, and
disbursing undisbursed life insurance benefits to hard-to-find
beneficiaries, with the goal of disbursing, by not later than
two years after the date of the enactment of this Act, all
funds that, as of the date of the enactment of this Act, are
owed to a beneficiary of a life insurance policy issued under
chapter 19 of title 38, United States Code.
(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs should work with interagency partners to
determine the types of records, reports, and other materials that may
be required to identify, locate, and disburse undisbursed life
insurance benefits to hard-to-find beneficiaries.
(c) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit
to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and the Committee
on Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives a report on the
progress of the Secretary in carrying out this section.
(d) Undisbursed Life Insurance Benefits Defined.--In this section,
the term ``undisbursed life insurance benefits''--
(1) means any amount of money that--
(A) is owed to a beneficiary of a life insurance
policy issued under chapter 19 of title 38, United
States Code; and
(B) has not been disbursed for a period of two
years or longer; and
(2) does not include any amount of money--
(A) that has not been disbursed due to a contested
claim; or
(B) the entitled beneficiary of which is in dispute
by two or more parties.
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