Organization delivers Statement for the Record to House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs subcommittee hearing.
The American Legion expressed written support for multiple pieces of veteran-related legislation during a June 24 hearing of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs.
The Statement for the Record (SFR) was submitted by American Legion Veterans Affairs 7 Rehabilitation Benefits Policy Analyst Kenneth Harman and touched on areas that included U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs claims and appeals processing, benefits and updates to VA’s caregiver programs. Read the complete SFR here.
The following are some highlights of the testimony.
Benefits
· H.R. 3123: Ernest Peltz Accrued Veterans Benefits Act. The legislation is intended to improve laws relating to the payment of certain death benefits to veterans’ surviving family members. H.R. 3123 aims to correct any potential injustices by improving the reclamation process for spouses and identified family members by safeguarding remaining entitlements and preventing VA from collecting benefits approved and owed at the time of death. Harman noted the Legion supports the legislation with an amendment that would require the VA secretary to maintain veterans’ Power of Attorney for 90 days after death, allowing the veterans’ widow or next of kin to utilize the benefits of an accredited service officer to represent their interests.
· H.R. 3627, Justice for America’s Veterans and Survivors Act. The legislation directs the VA secretary of Veteran Affairs to submit an annual report that contains data and information on the causes of deaths among veterans. When a dependent survivor files a VA claim for Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC), current regulations already stipulate for VA to examine if a veteran’s cause of death was due to a primary service-connected disability or secondary contributing factors. DIC may be payable when the cause of death is any condition listed on the death certificate matches with one of the veteran’s service-connected disabilities; the cause of death is an approved presumptive disability; or when requirements are met for veterans rated as “total.” Harman wrote that the long process to determine a service-connected death is detrimental for survivors, who are unable to readily access VA compensation and benefits upon a veteran’s death. This proposed legislation addresses this inefficiency by mandating the VA secretary to better track and annually report how each veteran died, whether through natural causes or a service-connection (especially for those with a mental health condition), and whether the veteran was rated as 100% composite or “total” qualifying for survivors DIC benefits.
Claims/appeals
· H.R. 3835, Veterans Appeals Efficiency Act. The legislation would require VA to deliver an annual progress report to Congress with information such as cases in which an adjudicator failed to comply with a relevant decision of the Board of Veterans Appeals (BVA), or where an Agency of Original jurisdiction did not satisfy the Duty to Assist guidelines; the number of claims filed in the National Work Queue still pending office assignment for adjudication; the number of cases pending before the BVA and the number of cases afforded expeditious treatment. Harman wrote that The American Legion welcomes the reporting of these metrics, as it would provide more transparency and pinpoint VBA’s workflow bottlenecks.
· H.R.3983, Veterans Claims Quality Improvement Ac. The legislation would mandate technology and policies to ensure VBA employees who commit an avoidable error (e.g., unnecessary overdevelopment leading to avoidable decision deferrals) are notified, and the deferrals are documented for corrective training. While VA Decision Review Operation Centers (DROCs) are tasked with reviewing error trends, The American Legion, through its Regional Office Action Review (ROAR) program, has learned that Veteran Service Representatives (VSRs) and Ratings Veteran Service Representatives (RVSRs) do not consistently receive sufficient feedback on recurring errors through the current Systematic Technical Accuracy Review (STAR) quality assurance program. The American Legion is extremely supportive of a more formalized process to standardize feedback to help prevent VSRs/RVSRs from making repeated and avoidable errors.
· H.R. 3854, Modernizing All Veterans and Survivors Claims Processing Act. The legislation directors the VA secretary to submit a plan to expand the use of certain automation tools within VA. Harman noted that passage of the PACT Act in 2022 – which was fully supported by the Legion –led to a large backlog in veterans claims to be processed that has lasted the past several years. As of May 2025, the backlog sits at around 200,000 claims, leading the VA to reinstate mandatory overtime to help address the backlog. H.R. 3854 seeks to address such backlog by enabling VA to use AI automation to speed up claims processing by mandating VA to design a strategy plan on how to implement AI in claims processing; and design an AI tool to automatically generate claims letters, better track dependent benefits to reduce overpayments, and devise a plan to use AI to automatically label and store relevant claims documents.
Caregivers
H.R. 3833, Veterans’ Caregiver Appeals Modernization Act. This legislation would amend Title 38, U.S. Code, to make certain improvements to VA’s caregiver program to provide comprehensive assistance for family caregivers of eligible veterans. The Legion supports the legislation but recommended an amendment to it that would transfer the adjudication of eligibility for the Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers (PCAFC) from the Veterans Health Administration to the Veterans Benefits Administration.
- Legislative