Veterans' pensions and compensation

HR 3951: Rural Veterans’ Improved Access to Benefits Act of 2025

Rural Veterans’ Improved Access to Benefits Act of 2025

This bill extends and expands the pilot program under which certain non-Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care professionals may be contracted to provide disability examinations to veterans, regardless of the jurisdiction of their licensure, for purposes of Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) benefits and care. Specifically, the bill (1) expands the types of health care professionals who may provide such examinations, and (2) extends the authority for such professionals to be contracted for this purpose through January 5, 2031.

Currently, such examinations may only be contracted to licensed non-VA physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, audiologists, or psychologists. The bill expands the list to include qualified health care professionals who are eligible for appointment to specified positions in the Veterans Health Administration, including hospital or clinic directors, dentists, and pharmacists.

The VA must report on its use of the expanded authority under this bill.

HR 3854: Modernizing All Veterans and Survivors

Modernizing All Veterans and Survivors Claims Processing Act

This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to plan and implement certain technological improvements to its systems, particularly in relation to the processing of claims and benefits.

First, the bill requires the VA to submit to Congress its plan to make available an automation tool for processing claims. Such tool must automate the retrieval of the records of the veteran, compile evidence relevant to the determination of the claim, provide automated decision support relevant to the determination, automate information sharing between federal agencies, and assist in generating correspondence regarding the claim.

Within one year of submitting this plan, the VA must ensure that each VA program office responsible for processing claims for pension or survivor benefits has an automation tool that at least assists in generating correspondence regarding the claim.

The VA must also implement policies, processes, and technological capabilities to ensure that a claims processor is made aware of and assigned to address situations when (1) there is an increase in the amount of dependency compensation paid to a beneficiary for a child, and (2) any educational assistance is paid to the child of a veteran.

Finally, the VA must submit a plan to Congress to ensure documents in the Veterans Benefits Management System are correctly labeled when uploaded.

HR 3455: Veterans Affairs Distributed Ledger Innovation Act of 2025

Veterans Affairs Distributed Ledger Innovation Act of 2025

This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to report to Congress on the feasibility, potential benefits, and risks associated with implementing distributed ledger technology to improve claims adjudication and prevent fraud, waste, and abuse within the VA’s benefits administration systems. Under the bill, a distributed ledger (1) is shared across a set of distributed nodes that participate in a network and store a complete or partial replica of the ledger, (2) is synchronized between the nodes, and (3) has data appended to it by following a specified consensus mechanism.