[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3983 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3983
To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the quality of the
adjudication of claims for benefits under the laws administered by the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 12, 2025
Mr. Luttrell introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Veterans' Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the quality of the
adjudication of claims for benefits under the laws administered by the
Secretary 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 ``Veterans Claims Quality Improvement
Act of 2025''.
SEC. 2. NOTICE OF AVOIDABLE DEFERRALS OF CLAIMS FOR BENEFITS UNDER LAWS
ADMINISTERED BY THE SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS; STUDY
AND REPORT ON CERTAIN OPINIONS OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS
AFFAIRS OFFICE OF GENERAL COUNSEL.
(a) Notice of Avoidable Deferrals.--Not later than one year after
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans
Affairs shall develop policies, procedures, and technological
capabilities to ensure that each employee of the Veterans Benefits
Administration that commits an avoidable deferral with respect to a
claim for benefits under the laws administered by the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs in the National Work Queue is notified of any
avoidable deferrals that such employee commits with respect to the same
claim.
(b) Study and Report on Certain OGC Opinions.--
(1) Study.--Not later than one year after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, in
consultation with the Office of the General Counsel of the
Department of Veterans Affairs and the Chairman of the Board of
Veterans' Appeals, shall complete a study to identify--
(A) issues about which an opinion from the Office
of the General Counsel of the Department would foster
consistency in the decisions of the Secretary with
respect to claims for benefits under the laws
administered by the Secretary; and
(B) issues raised in appeals of such decisions to
the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims
before the date of the enactment of this Act about
which the Office of the General Counsel has had
inconsistent opinions in matters involving
substantially similar questions of law or fact.
(2) Report.--Not later than one year after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall
submit to the Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the House of
Representatives a report that includes--
(A) the findings of the study required by paragraph
(1);
(B) a statement of which issues identified pursuant
to such study about which the Office of the General
Counsel of the Department intends to publish an
opinion; and
(C) a timeline for the publication of any such
opinion.
SEC. 3. IMPROVEMENTS TO SYSTEM FOR ADJUDICATION OF CLAIMS FOR BENEFITS
UNDER LAWS ADMINISTERED BY SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.
(a) Program for Quality Assurance in Decisions of Board of
Veterans' Appeals; Performance Reviews.--
(1) In general.--Section 7101 of title 38, United States
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new
subsection:
``(f)(1) The Chairman shall carry out a program to ensure quality
in the decisions of the Board. Under such program, the Chairman shall--
``(A) develop policies and procedures for--
``(i) measuring quality in such decisions;
``(ii) maintaining data and identifying trends with
respect to--
``(I) errors in such decisions;
``(II) errors in decisions remanded or
returned to the Board by the Court of Appeals
for Veterans Claims; and
``(III) specific members of the Board that
issued decisions that were subsequently vacated
by the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims;
and
``(iii) ensuring any such decision of the Board to
remand a claim for a benefit under a law administered
by the Secretary is necessary under any applicable law
or regulation;
``(B) with respect to a claim for such a benefit that is
remanded to the Board by the Court of Appeals for Veterans
Claims--
``(i) inform any employee of the Board responsible
for drafting the decision of the Board with respect to
such claim that such decision was remanded;
``(ii) provide any such employee with a copy of the
relevant order of the Court of Appeals for Veterans
Claims (including a copy of any accompanying joint
motion for remand); and
``(iii) provide incentives to such employees to
review such relevant orders and joint motions for
remand; and
``(C) ensure, to the maximum extent practicable, that any
error identified by the Board under such program is corrected
before the date on which the Board issues the final decision
associated with such error.
``(2) In developing policies and procedures to measure quality in
decisions of the Board pursuant to clause (i) of subparagraph (A) of
paragraph (1), the Chairman shall consider the data and trends
maintained and identified pursuant to clause (ii) of such subparagraph.
``(3) The Chairman may use technology, including artificial
intelligence, to maintain such data and identify such trends.
``(4) The Secretary shall submit to the Committees on Veterans'
Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Senate an annual report
on the program required by this subsection that includes, with respect
to the period covered by the report, an identification of--
``(A) elements, if any of the process of the Board for
reviewing an appeal under this chapter that lead to errors in
decisions of the Board; and
``(B) the most common reasons that a claim for a benefit
under a law administered by the Secretary was remanded to such
Board by the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.''.
(2) Deadline.--The Secretary shall submit the first report
required by paragraph (2) of such section (as added by
paragraph (1)) by not later than one year after the date of the
enactment of this Act.
(b) Training Program for Certain Employees of Board of Veterans'
Appeals; Performance Reviews.--
(1) Training program.--
(A) In general.--Chapter 71 of such title (as
amended by subsection (a)) is further amended by
inserting after section 7101A the following new
section:
``Sec. 7101B. Training program for Members of Board on timely and
correct adjudication of appeals
``(a) In General.--The Secretary, in conjunction with the Chairman
of the Board of Veterans' Appeals, shall develop and carry out a
program to provide Members of the Board training on timely and correct
adjudication of appeals under this chapter.
``(b) Required Considerations.--In carrying out the program
required by subsection (a), the Secretary shall consider the following:
``(1) Feedback, if any, from members of the Board and
covered employees with respect to such program.
``(2) Data on errors in decisions of the Board maintained
pursuant to the program for quality assurance required by
subsection (f) of section 7101 of this title.
``(3) Any decision of the Court of Appeals for Veterans
Claims to remand a claim for benefits under the laws
administered by the Secretary to the Board for further action,
including a joint motion to remand such claim.
``(c) Assessments of Effectiveness.--The Secretary, in conjunction
with the Chairman of the Board of Veterans' Appeals, shall develop a
method to assess, on an annual basis, the effectiveness of the training
program under this section. In developing such method, the Secretary
shall consider best practices for assessing the effectiveness of
training programs, including the Kirkpatrick evaluation model.
``(d) Report.--The Secretary shall submit to the Committees on
Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Senate an
annual report on the program required by subsection (a) that includes,
with respect to the period covered by the report--
``(1) a statement of the topics of the training provided
pursuant to this section, disaggregated by--
``(A) mandatory training; and
``(B) non-mandatory training; and
``(2) the results of the assessment of the effectiveness of
such program required under subsection (b).
``(e) Covered Employee Defined.--In this section, the term `covered
employee' means an employee of the Board who is--
``(1) not a member of the Board; and
``(2) responsible for drafting decisions of the Board.''.
(B) Clerical amendment.--The table of sections at
the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting
after the item relating to section 7101A the following
new item:
``7101B. Training program for Members of Board on timely and
correct adjudication of appeals.''.
(2) Performance reviews of members of the board.--Section
7101A of such title (as amended by paragraph (1)) is amended--
(A) in subparagraph (B) of subsection (c)(1) by
striking ``not less often than once every three years''
and inserting ``not less often than annually''; and
(B) by adding at the end the following new
subsection:
``(h)(1) With respect to any performance review of a covered
employee, the Secretary may not consider the timeliness or quality of
work of any Member of the Board.
``(2) In this subsection, the term `covered employee' has the
meaning given such term in section 7101B of this title.''.
(c) Decisions of Board to Remand.--
(1) Information relating to decisions to remand.--Section
7104 of such title is amended in subsection (d)--
(A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through (3) as
paragraphs (2) through (4), respsectively; and
(B) by inserting before paragraph (2) (as so
redesignated), the following new paragraph:
``(1) with respect to a claim that the Board remands for
further action, a statement of the specific reasons such claim
was remanded, including any failure on the part of the
Secretary to comply with--
``(A) the Secretary's duty to assist under section
5103A of this title; and
``(B) the Secretary's duty to notify under section
5103 of this title;''.
(2) Notice of remanded decision for certain employees.--
Such section is further amended in--
(A) subsection (e)--
(i) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through
(3) as subparagraphs (A) through (C),
respectively;
(ii) by striking ``After'' and inserting
``(1) After''; and
(iii) by adding at the end the following
new paragraph:
``(2) If, pursuant to a decision on an appeal, the Board remands a
claim for a benefit under a law administered by the Secretary for
further action, the Secretary shall, to the maximum extent practicable,
issue a copy of such decision to each employee of the Veterans Benefits
Administration who committed the error resulting in the decision of the
Board to remand, when applicable.''; and
(B) in subsection (f), by striking ``under
subsection (e)'' and inserting `` under paragraph (1)
of subsection (e)''.
(d) Annual Reports for Board of Veterans' Appeals.--
(1) In general.--Chapter 71 of title 38, United States
Code, is amended by inserting after section 7114 the following
new section:
``Sec. 7115. Annual report on Board of Veterans' Appeals
``The Chairman of the Board shall submit to the Committees on
Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Senate an
annual report that includes, for each decision of the Board to remand a
claim for a benefit under a law administered by the Secretary to the
Secretary for further adjudication during the period covered by the
report, a statement of the reasons for such decision of the Board,
disaggregated by decisions on--
``(1) claims with a rating decision dated on or after
February 19, 2019; and
``(2) claims with a rating decision dated before such
date.''.
(2) Deadlines.--The Secretary shall submit the first
reports required by subsections (a) and (b) of section 7115 of
such title (as added by paragraph (1)) by not later than one
year after the date of the enactment of this Act.
(3) Clerical amendment.--The table of sections at the
beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting after the
item relating to section 7114 the following new item:
``7115. Annual report on Board of Veterans' Appeals''.
(e) Plan for Improvements to Quality in Decisions of Board.--
(1) In general.--Not later than six months after the date
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans
Affairs, in consultation with the Chairman of the Board of
Veterans' Appeals and the head of the Office of Administrative
Review of the Veterans Benefits Administration, shall develop a
plan to--
(A) improve the quality of decisions of the Board
to remand, pursuant to section 7104 of title 38, United
States Code, claims for a benefit under a law
administered by the Secretary to the Secretary for
further action; and
(B) mitigate the number of such decisions that are
unnecessary under any applicable law or regulation.
(2) Report.--The Secretary shall submit to the Committees
on Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives and the
Senate a report on such plan by not later than six months after
the date of the enactment of this Act.
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