Section 2 of the bill would provide that the effective date of an increased rate of compensation on account of dependents would be the date of claim where evidence of relationship and dependency is furnished within 1 year from the date of request by the Veterans' Administration for such evidence. Under existing law, increased disability compensation payable by reason of dependents under Public Law 877, 80th Congress, as amended, is made effective as of the date of receipt of the evidence which establishes entitlement. Where additional evidence is necessary to substantiate the original evidence, the effective date of increased disability compensation is the date of receipt of the original evidence if the substantiating evidence is received within 1 year from the date of request therefor. Additional evidence required for the purpose of inquiring into the veracity of a witness or the authenticity of the documentary evidence falls within the abovecited rule. However, any evidence to enlarge the proofs and the evidence originally submitted is not so included. The cost of this section of the bill would depend on contingencies which are not foreseeable at this time. Advice has been received from the Bureau of the Budget that although there is no objection to the submission of the proposed report to the committee, the Bureau of the Budget recommends against the favorable consideration of this bill by the committee both because of the fiscal impact of the legislation and because of the extensive consideration given to this matter by earlier Congresses. Sincerely yours, CARL R. GRAY, Jr., Administrator. [No. 22] COMMITTEE ON VETERANS' AFFAIRS, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES VETERANS' ADMINISTRATION, Washington 25, D. C., March 30, 1953. Hon. EDITH NOURSE ROGERS, House of Representatives, Washington, 25, D. C. DEAR MRS. ROGERS: This refers to your request for a report on H. R. 43, 83d Congress, a bill to make uniform the rates of service-connected death compensation payable to certain widows. The purpose of the bill is to authorize an increase in the rates of compensation based on service-connected death payable to widows, without children, of veterans. The present wartime monthly rate for a vidow but no child would be increased from $75 to $87, and the peacetime rate (established by law at 80 percent of the wartime rate) would be increased from $60 to $69.60. The increased wartime rate would also be payable to such widows of veterans who served on or after June 27, 1950, and before such date as shall thereafter be determined by the President or the Congress, pursuant to Public Law 28, 82d Congress, May 11, 1951. The last increase in death compensation payable to widows without children was granted by Public Law 868, 80th Congress, July 1, 1948. Under that act the wartime rate was increased from $60 to $75 monthly and the peacetime rate from $38 to $60. Death compensation rates for widows with children and children alone were increased in varying amounts under Public Law 868, as well as by the subsequent enactments of Public Law 339, 81st Congress, October 10, 1949, and Public Law 356, 82d Congress, May 23, 1952. The increase of approximately 15 percent in the compensation rate for the widow alone as provided in the bill, H. R. 43, corresponds to the mentioned increase of approximately 15 percent authorized for widows with children, and children where there is no widow, by Public Law 356 in 1952. In the event of enactment of the bill, it is estimated that approximately 65,000 widows would be entitled to increased benefits at a cost of approximately $9,197,000 for the fiscal year 1954. Advice has been received from the Bureau of the Budget that although there is no objection to the submission of the proposed report to the committee the Bureau of the Budget recommends against the favorable consideration of this legislation by the committee. Sincerely yours, CARL R. GRAY, Jr., Administrator. [No. 23] COMMITTEE ON VETERANS' AFFAIRS, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES VETERANS' ADMINISTRATION, Washington 25, D. C., March 30, 1953. Hon. EDITH NOURSE ROGERS, House of Representatives, Washington 25, D. C. DEAR MRS. ROGERS: This refers to your request for a report on H. R. 2469, 83d Congress, a bill to increase the rates of service-connected death compensation payable to dependent parents. The purpose of the bill is to authorize an increase in the rates of compensation based on service-connected death payable to dependent parents of deceased veterans. The present wartime monthly rate for a dependent mother or father would be increased from $60 to $75 and the rate when both parents are dependent would be increased from $35 each to $40 each. The increased wartime rate would also be payable to the surviving parents of veterans dying from service-connected causes on or after June 27, 1950, and before such date as shall thereafter be determined by the President or the Congress pursuant to Public Law 28, 82d Congress, May 11, 1951. The monthly peacetime rate (extablished by law at 80 percent of the wartime rate) for a dependent mother or father would be increased from $48 to $60 and the rate when both parents are dependent would be increased from $28 each to $32 each. The last increase in death compensation payable to dependent parents was granted by Public Law 868, 80th Congress, July 1, 1948. Under that act the monthly wartime rate was increased from $54 (or both $30 each) to $60 (or both $35 each) and the peacetime rate from $30 (or both $20 each) to $48 (or both $28 each). Death compensation rates for widows with children were generally increased by varying amounts under Public Law 868, as well as by the subsequent enactments of Public Law 339, 81st Congress, October 10, 1949, and Public Law 356, 82d Congress, May 23, 1952. Such rates for children alone were increased by the mentioned Public Laws 868 and 356. It is estimated that the cost of H. R. 2469, 83d Congress, will approximate $38,062,000 the first year, affecting approximately 240,025 cases. A breakdown of this estimate by wars and Regular Establishment is as follows: Advice has been received from the Bureau of the Budget that although there is no objection to the submission of the proposed report to the committee the Bureau of the Budget recommends against the favorable consideration of this legislation by the committee. Sincerely yours, CARL R. GRAY, Jr., Administrator. [24] COMMITTEE ON VETERANS' AFFAIRS, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Hon. EDITH NOURSE ROGERS, VETERANS' ADMINISTRATION, Washington 25, D. C., March 30, 1953. Chairman, Committee on Veterans' Affairs, House of Representatives, Washington 25, D. C. DEAR MRS. ROGERS: In accordance with your request the Veterans' Admin-istration submits the following report on H. R. 463, 83d Congress, a bill to prohibit the severance of a service-connected disability which has been in effect for 10 or more years. This will also serve as a report on H. R. 628 and H. R. 2534, each of the 83d Congress, which are bills identical with H. R. 463. The purpose of the bill is to provide that a service connection which has been made for compensation, pension, or insurance purposes under laws administered by the Veterans' Administration, and which has been in force for 10 or more years shall not be severed thereafter unless on a showing that the original rating was based on fraud or gross misrepresentation. Under the provisions of Public Law 494, 79th Congress, approved July 9, 1946, all monetary benefits, other than retirement pay, for service-connected disability or death, payable under laws administered by the Veterans' Administration are designated compensation and not pension. Accordingly, the use of the term "pension" in the bill is not relevant to the subject of service connection. Furthermore, the bill apparently assumes there is a basic relationship between service connection and the benefit of insurance. Insurance is based on a contractual right and is normally not concerned with the matter of service connection. If a veteran with a service-connected disability for compensation purposes is granted insurance under the provisions of section 620 of the National Service Life Insurance Act, as amended, or reinstates his United States Government life insurance under the provisions of section 304 of the World War Veterans Act, 1924, as amended, the policy issue in the former or reinstatement in the latter is incontestable except for fraud, nonpayment of premiums, or on the ground that the applicant was not a member of the military, naval, or air forces of the United States, and the matter of service connection is not a factor. There is only a remote possibility that the bill, if enacted, would enable a few policyholders of United States Government life insurance who would not otherwise be eligible, to reinstate their insurance under section 304 of the World War Veterans' Act, 1924, as amended, or to be granted premium waiver under section 306 of the act. The bill, therefore, pertains almost exclusively to the benefit of compensation. The multitude of provisions of law affecting adjudication of claims for compensation and the many regulations and instructions necessarily required for the proper functioning of the rating agencies of the Veterans' Administration make it inevitable that service connection on occasions is erroneously authorized. Errors in adjudication may arise from misinterpretation or misapplication of the law or facts. Under existing law the Veterans' Administration has the latitude of correcting obvious or clear and unmistakable erroneous actions in rating and adjudication. When discovery is made that a claim has been erroneously denied, the rating should be, and is, changed and the claim paid. Conversely, in cases in which a claim is erroneously allowed, the error should be, and is, corrected. Under existing procedure, service connection once granted is not discontinued unless such grant is shown to have resulted from clear and unmistakable error There does not appear to be any valid reason for allowing a person to continue to receive compensation merely because at some time in the past he was erroneously granted compensation to which he was not entitled. The bill would requre the perpetuation of clear and unmistakable error discovered in any case after 10 years. The Veterans' Administration has no data on which to estimate the cost of the bill, if enacted. Advice has been received from the Bureau of the Budget that there would be no objection to the submission of the proposed report on these bills and that for reasons stated therein the Bureau of the Budget recommends against favorable consideration of this legislation by the committee. Sincerely yours, CARL R. GRAY, Jr., Administrator. [No. 25] COMMITTEE ON VETERANS' AFFAIRS, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES VETERANS' ADMINISTRATION, Washington 25, D. C., March 30, 1953. Hon. EDITH NOURSE ROGERS, House of Representatives, Washington 25, D. C. DEAR MRS. ROGERS: Reference is made to your request for a report on H. R. 2984, 83d Congress, a bill to prohibit reduction of any rating of total disability or permanent total disability for compensation, pension, or insurance purposes which has been in effect for 20 or more years. The purpose of the bill is to provide that a rating of total disability or permanent total disability which has been made for compensation, pension, or insurance purposes under laws administered by the Veterans' Administration, and which has been continuously in force for 20 or more years, shall not be reduced thereafter. H. R. 2984 is similar to H. R. 6167, 82d Congress, a bill to prohibit reduction of any rating of total disability or permanent total disability for compensation, pension, or insurance purposes which has been in effect for 25 or more years, on which report was submitted to your committee on January 24, 1952 (Committee Print No. 237). This bill with amendments was passed by the House of Representatives but failed of enactment during the 82d Congress. Ratings of total disability and permanent total disability for compensation and pension purposes are based generally upon the average impairment resulting from injury or disease. For insurance purposes, a total disability is defined generally as one which continuously renders it impossible for the disabled person to follow a substantially gainful occupation and total disability is deemed permanent when it is founded upon conditions which make it reasonably certain that such total disability will continue throughout the life of the disabled person. In cases in which it is shown by 2 or more examinations that a disability has continued at the same degree for 5 years, it is the longstanding policy of the Veterans' Administration not to schedule future examinations for compensation or pension rating purposes. Reconsideration of ratings in such cases comes about only when new evidence is submitted by such veterans, or a change of condition is disclosed in the report of hospitalization or other sources, or when evidence is received showing that the ratings are clearly erroneous. The effect of the bill would be to establish a conclusive presumption of permanent total disability notwithstanding the fact of recovery. Permanent total disability is a question of fact and it would be pure fiction to presume the existence of a condition where the facts themselves would not support a finding to that effect. Thus, an individual who is able to follow a substantially gainful occupation can hardly be regarded as being totally and permanently disabled for insurance purposes. The elements which enter into a rating of permanent total disability for insurance purposes are frequently quite difficult to evaluate. This is especially true as regards the question of the permanency of the disability. Very often a condition which appears likely to continue throughout life will show unexpected improvement, enabling the individual to resume gainful employment. Where this has occurred it seems reasonable to assume that the original granting of benefits for permanent total disability resulted from an incorrect rating, and there appears to be no sound basis for continuing payments after the fact of recovery has been definitely established. Any further payments would be in disregard of the facts and the terms of the policy. This would not be in the interest of other policyholders. The Veterans' Administration has no available data upon which to estimate the cost of the bill, but only in exceptional cases would any veteran be reduced in degree of disability where the rating has been in effect for 20 or more years. Accordingly, the cost of the bill, if enacted, would not be very great. Advice has been received from the Bureau of the Budget that there would be no objection to the submission of the proposed report on this bill and that for reasons stated therein the Bureau of the Budget recommends against favorable consideration of this legislation by the Congress. Sincerely yours, CARL R. GRAY, Jr., Administrator. [No. 26] COMMITTEE ON VETERANS' AFFAIRS, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Hon. EDITH NOURSE ROGERS, VETERANS' ADMINISTRATION, Washington 25, D. C., March 30, 1953. Chairman, Committee on Veterans' Affairs, House of Representatives, Washington 25, D. C. DEAR MRS. ROGERS: Reference is made to your request for a report on H. R. 46, 83d Congress, a bill to amend Veterans Regulations to establish for persons who served in the Armed Forces during World War II a further presumption of service connection for tuberculosis other than pulmonary. The purpose of the bill is to amend the Veterans Regulations to provide that, in addition to active pulmonary tuberculosis, all other types of tuberculosis developing a 10 percent degree of disability or more within 3 years from the date of separation from active service, shall, in the absence of affirmative evidence to the contrary, be deemed to have been incurred in or aggravated by such service. For the purposes of this report it is assumed that the intent is to extend the presumption only to active nonpulmonary tuberculosis, consistent with the existing presumption for pulmonary tuberculosis. However, the language of the bill is such as to raise a question on this point and, accordingly, should be clarified. Veterans Regulation No. 1 (a), part I, paragraph I, subparagraph (c), as amended, provides generally that a chronic disease (other than active pulmonary tuberculosis and multiple sclerosis) becoming manifest to a degree of 10 percent or more within 1 year from the date of separation from active service as defined in subparagraph (a) of said regulation, shall be considered to have been incurred in or aggravated by such service, notwithstanding there is no record of evidence of such disease during the period of active service, if the person suffering from such disease served 90 days or more in the active service, except where there is affirmative evidence to the contrary, or evidence to establish that an intercurrent injury or disease which is a recognized cause of such chronic disease has been suffered between the date of discharge and the onset of the chronic disease, or the disability is due to the person's own willful misconduct. With respect to active pulmonary tuberculosis a 3-year presumptive period is provided and for multiple sclerosis a 2-year period. The presumptions in this paragraph are applicable to veterans of wars specified in part I of the mentioned regulation (World War II veterans are the chief group) and, because of the provisions of Public Law 28, 82d Congress, May 11, 1951, to persons who shall have served in the active service on or after June 27, 1950, and prior to such date as shall thereafter be determined by Presidential proclamation or concurrent resolution of the Congress. With respect to active pulmonary tuberculosis, the presumptive period was increased from 1 to 3 years by Public Law 573, 81st Congress, June 23, 1950, and the presumptive period provided for the disease of multiple sclerosis was increased from 1 to 2 years by Public Law 174, 82d Congress, October 12, 1951. In extending the presumptive period from 1 to 3 years for the purpose of determining service connection for active pulmonary tuberculosis, Public Law 573, supra, specifically limited to 1 year the presumptive period for the finding of service connection for cases of nonpulmonary tuberculosis. The legislative history of Public Law 573 does not set forth the basis for this distinction. Each of the committees considering the bill (H. R. 7440, 81st Cong.) which became this act, stated in its report that "The committee is of the opinion that this bill is fully justified, in view of the nature of this particular chronic disease. This additional presumptive period will authorize service connection in many meritorious cases which are barred under existing law." It may be noted, in connection with World War I veterans, that the War Risk Insurance Act, as amended by the act of August 9, 1921, first provided a 2-year presumptive period for active pulmonary tuberculosis. By the amendatory act of March 4, 1923, this period was extended to 3 years and the scope broadened to include "an active tuberculous disease," thus removing any distinction between pulmonary and nonpulmonary tuberculosis. The following year, under the World War Veterans' Act, 1924, the Congress further liberalized the law by extending to January 1, 1925, the presumptive period for finding service connection of certain diseases and continued its applicability to "an active tuberculous disease." The latter act (repealed by Public Law 2, 73d Cong., but restored with limitations by Public Law 141, 73d Cong.) is currently applicable to World War I cases. |