Pappas and Mace’s Bipartisan Faster Payments to Veterans’ Survivors Act Passes Senate Unanimously

Today, Congressman Chris Pappas (NH-01), Chair of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs (HVAC), and Congresswoman Nancy Mace (SC-01), member of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, announced the United States Senate unanimously passed their bipartisan legislation, the Faster Payments to Veterans’ Survivors Act, which will improve the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) processes for identifying, locating, and paying hard-to-find survivors of recently deceased veterans. The bill will now be sent to President Biden for his signature.

“Many veterans’ survivors wait months to receive the benefits they are owed. My office has worked to help deliver these to families in New Hampshire who are waiting on VA, but no family should have to navigate a slow or complicated process like this after the loss of a loved one. By ensuring family members and spouses have the resources and support that they need, we continue to honor and pay tribute to those who have sacrificed for our country,” said Congressman Pappas. “I am proud of the bipartisan effort that enabled the House and Senate to pass this much-needed reform and hope President Biden will swiftly sign this legislation into law.”

“We must ensure the family members and spouses of the heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice are quickly provided the funds and services they need to avoid financial uncertainty,” said Congresswoman Mace. “Families of Veterans in South Carolina and across the country deserve to be prioritized, and this bill's unanimous passage in the Senate means the surviving families of our nation’s heroes will receive timely payments."

When a veteran passes away, the surviving spouse or child is often owed certain benefits, such as life insurance proceeds. The survivors and families of deceased veterans often face financial hardship, and timely payments are, therefore, critical, but VA often struggles to identify, locate, and pay some survivors of recently deceased veterans. As a result, tens of millions of dollars in survivor payments remain undisbursed after a year, with some payments many years late. According to the VA, as of September 2020, the Department owed more than $155 million in undisbursed life insurance benefits to nearly 15,000 individuals. On average, this represents approximately $10,500 per family.

The bipartisan Faster Payments to Veterans’ Survivors Act will improve VA’s processes for identifying, locating, and paying hard-to-find survivors of recently deceased veterans. It establishes specific steps for VA to strengthen its management of undisbursed funds to ensure beneficiaries receive payments in a timely manner.

Specifically, the bill will:

• Shorten the time frame in which VA is authorized to designate, contact, and pay primary and appropriate alternate insurance beneficiaries from 2 years to 1 year and from 4 years to 2 years, respectively. Existing statutory constraints delay the release of undisbursed funds.
• Ensure that the procedures for paying alternate beneficiaries are uniformly applied and consistent between VA life insurance programs.
• Improve and better publicize an existing online tool that veterans' families can use to search for money they may be owed.
• Ensure VA has the staff it needs to reach hard-to-find beneficiaries.
• Set a goal of disbursing all funds that are owed to a survivor of a deceased veteran or beneficiary within two years.
• Require a report to Congress within 180 days on VA's progress.

The bill is supported by Veteran Services Organizations including Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), American Legion, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA), Military Officers Association of America (MOAA), Modern Military Association of America (MMAA), and Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA).

Background:

In April, Congressman Pappas secured a commitment from VA during an Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee hearing to continue to work together to speed up delivery of VA benefits to veterans' survivors.

In July, Congressman Pappas and Congresswoman Mace introduced the Faster Payments to Veterans' Survivors Act. Also in July, the legislation advanced out of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee with bipartisan support.

In September, Congressman Pappas led the House of Representatives in passing his bipartisan legislation.