5

1

SEC. 7. Section 622 of title 38, United States Code,

2 is amended by inserting "(a)" immediately before the

3 first sentence and by adding at the end thereof the follow4 ing new subsection:

5

“(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a)

6 of this section, the Administrator may not require any state7 ment under oath from an applicant referred to therein who 8 is seventy years of age or older for the purpose of determin9 ing inability to defray necessary expenses, and such appli10 cant shall be deemed to be unable to defray the expenses 11 of necessary hospital or domiciliary care."

12

SEC. 8. This Act shall take effect on January 1, 1969.

91ST CONGRESS 1ST SESSION

H. R. 9455

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 25, 1969

Mr. OTTINGER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs

A BILL

To modify the reporting requirement and establish additional income exclusions relating to pension for veterans and their widows, to liberalize the bar to payment of benefits to remarried widows of veterans, to liberalize the oath requirement for hospitalization of veterans, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 3 That subsection (d) of section 103 of title 38, United States

1

4 Code, is amended by inserting "(1)" immediately after

(d)" and by adding at the end of said subsection the

6 following:

7 "(2) The remarriage of the widow of a veteran shall

8 not bar the furnishing of benefits to her as the widow of the

2

1 veteran if the remarriage has been terminated by death,

2

or has been dissolved by a court with basic authority to

3 render divorce decrees unless the Veterans' Administration

4 determines that the divorce was secured through fraud by

5 either party or collusion.

6

"(3) The actions of a widow in living with another 7 man and holding herself out openly to the public to be 8 the wife of such other man shall not bar the furnishing of 9 benefits to her as the widow of the veteran if such actions 10 have terminated."

11

SEC. 2. (a) No widow shall be denied benefits by 12 the Veterans' Administration, other than insurance, solely 13 because of prior restrictions on payment in the nature of 14 inference or presumption of remarriage, or relating to open 15 and notorious adulterous cohabitation or similar conduct, 16 if the relationship or conduct which warranted imposition of the restriction has terminated.

18

19

(b) The effective date of an award of benefits resulting from enactment of subsection (a) of this section 20 shall not be earlier than the date of receipt of application

21

222

23

24

25

therefor, filed after termination of the particular relation

ship or conduct and after December 31, 1968.

SEC. 3. Subsection (b) of section 3104 of title 38,

United States Code, is amended by striking out "paragraph

(2)" in paragraph 1 thereof and inserting in lieu thereof

3

1 "paragraphs (2) and (3)" and by adding at the end thereof

2 the following new paragraph:

3

"(3) Benefits other than insurance under laws adminis

4 tered by the Veterans' Administration may not be paid to

5

any person by reason of the death of more than one per

6 son to whom he or she was married; however, the person

7

may elect one or more times to receive benefits by reason 8 of the death of any one spouse."

9

SEC. 4. Section 3010 of title 38, United States Code, is 10 amended by adding at the end thereof the following new sub

11 sections:

12

66

"(1) The effective date of an award of benefits to a 13 widow based upon termination of a remarriage by death or 14 divorce shall be the date of death or the date the judicial 15 decree of divorce becomes final, if an application therefor 16 is received within one year from such termination.

17

"(m) The effective date of an award of benefits to a 18 widow based upon termination of actions described in sub19 section 103 (d) (3) of this title shall not be earlier than the 20 date of receipt of application therefor filed after termination 21 of such actions and after December 31, 1968.".

22 SEC. 5. Section 506 (a) (2) of title 38, United States 23 Code, is amended by striking out the comma after "child" 24 and inserting in lieu thereof "or a person who has attained

4

1 seventy-two years of age and has been paid pension there

2 under for two calendar years,".

3 SEC. 6. Section 503 of title 38, United States Code, is 4 amended

(a) by inserting before "United" in paragraph

(4) there "servicemen's group life insurance,"; and
(b) by substituting a semicolon for the period at
the end of said section and adding the following new
paragraphs:

"(14) amounts equal to prepayments on an indebtedness secured by a mortgage, or similar type security instrument, on real property (which was prior to death the principal residence of a veteran and spouse)

made by the veteran or his widow, after the death of the spouse, during the year of death and the succeeding year, if said indebtedness was in existence at the time

of death;

"(15) amounts in joint accounts in banks and similar institutions acquired by reason of death of other

joint owner;

"(16) payments received by a retired employee from his former employer as reimbursement for monthly premiums for supplementary medical insurance benefits for the aged provided by part B of title XVIII of the Social Security Act, as amended.".