Description:
H.R. 7188 would require all disability benefit questionnaires submitted to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) by people other than VA employees to be transmitted in a machine-readable format. Those questionnaires are standardized forms used by physicians when performing examinations that are used to determine veterans’ eligibility for disability compensation. Disability compensation is a monthly cash benefit paid to veterans who have disabilities or diseases that have been determined to be connected to their military service. Benefit amounts are based on percentage ratings for cumulative disabilities and are assigned from zero to 100 percent in increments of 10. The requirement would take effect within 180 days of enactment. VA would be required to report on information technology (IT) systems needed to accept machine-readable questionnaires. Based on information from the department, CBO estimates developing and maintaining the system for machine-readable disability benefit questionnaires would cost $6 million over the 2023-2032 period. The bill also would require VA to update its IT systems to automatically process claims for temporary disability ratings for the purposes of disability compensation. Under current law, veterans who are receiving disability compensation from VA may get a temporary disability rating of 100 percent if they are hospitalized for a period of 21 days or more. Currently, VA manually processes those ratings. The bill would require VA to automate that processing while ensuring VA employees continue to determine final eligibility. According to VA, the agency would require additional IT resources to automate claims processing. Based on information from VA, CBO estimates that updating and sustaining the department’s IT systems to automate such claims would cost $6 million over the 2023-2032 period.
