119-s2055

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2055 Introduced in Senate

    (IS) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 S. 2055

To amend title 38, United States Code, to make certain improvements to 
 the program of the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide 
 comprehensive assistance for family caregivers of eligible veterans, 
 and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

 June 12, 2025

 Mr. Banks (for himself and Mr. King) 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 make certain improvements to 
 the program of the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide 
 comprehensive assistance for family caregivers of eligible veterans, 
 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' Caregiver Appeals 
Modernization Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENTS TO PROGRAM OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS FOR 
 COMPREHENSIVE ASSISTANCE FOR FAMILY CAREGIVERS OF 
 ELIGIBLE VETERANS.

    (a) In General.--

Section 1720G of title 38, United States Code, is 
amended--

    (1) in subsection

    (a)

    (4) --
        (A) by striking ``An eligible veteran'' and 
 inserting ``
        (A) An eligible veteran''; and
        (B) by adding at the end the following new 
 subparagraph:
 ``
        (B) The Secretary shall develop and implement a single digital 
system through which each employee of the Veterans Health 
Administration or the Board of Veterans' Appeals responsible for 
evaluating an application submitted under subparagraph
        (A) , or appeals 
of decisions of the Secretary with respect to any such application, may 
access--
 ``
            (i) each such application; and
 ``
            (ii) all documents received or submitted with respect to 
 each such application.''; and

    (2) in subsection
            (c) --
        (A) in the heading, by inserting ``; Training'' 
 after ``Construction'';
        (B) in paragraph

    (2) --
            (i) by striking ``construed to create--'' 
 and inserting ``construed--'';
            (ii) by redesignating subparagraphs
        (A) and
        (B) as clauses
            (i) and
            (ii) , respectively (and 
 conforming the margins accordingly);
            (iii) by inserting before the matter so 
 redesignated the following new subparagraph:
 ``
        (A) to create--'';
            (iv) in clause
            (ii) of subparagraph
        (A) , as 
 added by clause
            (iii) , by striking the period 
 at the end and inserting ``; or''; and
            (v) by inserting after subparagraph
        (A) , as 
 added by clause
            (iii) , the following new 
 subparagraph:
 ``
        (B) as affecting, if an eligible veteran dies during the 
 pendency of an appeal of a decision of the Secretary affecting 
 the furnishing of assistance or support services under this 
 section, the eligibility of a family caregiver to receive 
 monthly personal caregiver stipends under subsection

    (a)

    (3)
        (A)
            (ii) 
            (V) --
 ``
            (i) to which the family caregiver was entitled on 
 the date of the death of the eligible veteran based on 
 evidence in the file for such veteran or caregiver on 
 such date; and
 ``
            (ii) due and unpaid as of such date.''; and
            (C) by adding at the end the following new 
 paragraph:
 ``

    (3) The Secretary shall ensure that any employee of the Veterans 
Health Administration responsible for evaluating appeals of decisions 
of the Secretary affecting the furnishing of assistance or support 
services under this section is provided the same guidance and completes 
the same training as a higher-level adjudicator under 

section 5104B of 
this title.''.

    (b) Required Considerations.--

    (1) Digital systems.--In developing the digital system 
 required by subsection

    (a)

    (4)
        (B) of 

section 1720G of title 38, 
 United States Code, (as added by subsection

    (a)

    (1) ), the 
 Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall consider--
        (A) lessons learned from the implementation of the 
 Veterans Benefits Management System to process claims 
 for benefits under laws administered by the Secretary; 
 and
        (B) whether other programs administered by the 
 Veterans Health Administration would improve from the 
 development of a single digital system through which 
 applications and documents relating to such programs 
 may be accessed by employees of the Veterans Health 
 Administration responsible for evaluating such 
 applications and documents.

    (2) Training.--In carrying out the requirement under 
 subsection
            (c) (3) of such section (as added by subsection

    (a)

    (2) ), the Secretary shall consider best practices developed 
 from efforts of the Secretary to standardize the guidance and 
 training available to employees of the Department of Veterans 
 Affairs responsible for the delivery of disability compensation 
 to veterans eligible for such compensation.
 <all>