Pappas Urges Colleagues to ‘Put Veterans First, Not Profits,’ Pushes for Passage of His GUARD VA Benefits Act

Yesterday in a House Veterans’ Affairs Committee markup, Congressman Chris Pappas (NH-01), Ranking Member of the Economic Opportunity Subcommittee of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, condemned House Republicans for moving forward legislation to legalize for-profit, predatory companies charging veterans exorbitant fees for assistance with their disability claims and urged them to instead support his bipartisan GUARD VA Benefits Act, which would reinstate criminal penalties for unaccredited claim representatives who charge unauthorized fees while assisting veterans with filing a claim for Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) disability compensation benefits. Watch his remarks here.

During the markup, Congressman Pappas said, “I, and others on this Committee, along with most of the VSO community, have repeatedly raised alarm about the rise of unaccredited claims consultants profiting from veterans’ disability claims. While only VA-accredited representatives are legally allowed to assist with claims, the VA lost its ability to enforce that law nearly two decades ago. As a result, predatory companies now exploit this loophole - charging veterans thousands of dollars while raking in millions.”

He continued saying, “Now, instead of restoring VA’s authority to penalize illegal behavior, H.R. 3132 would legalize it, granting accreditation without safeguards and allowing companies to charge up to $12,500 just for helping a veteran file their claim… Ironically, the bill includes my own language to reinstate criminal penalties - but this is nothing but a smokescreen for bad actors to hide behind, because the bill also rewrites the law to exempt the very conduct that should remain illegal from being penalized. Rather than rewriting the law to suit the interests of those who are already breaking it, we should focus on protecting veterans and their hard-earned benefits.”

“It’s simple: put veterans first, not profits. The solution isn’t to legalize predatory practices - it’s to enforce the law and to hold violators accountable. If these companies truly believe they’re helping veterans, they should have nothing to fear from the GUARD Act or the VA’s accreditation process,” he concluded.

Background: 

Unaccredited claims representatives, or claim sharks, are not subject to VA standards. They strategically advertise their services to avoid regulatory oversight and as a result, may engage in predatory and unethical practices that target veterans and rob them of their VA benefits. Federal laws and regulations prohibit anyone from assisting a veteran in the preparation, presentation, or prosecution of a VA benefit claim, or charging a fee for this assistance, without accreditation from VA. However, VA and other federal agencies are limited in their ability to enforce existing law because explicit criminal penalties were stripped from statute nearly two decades ago. This has contributed to the proliferation of unaccredited claims representatives in recent years, a troubling development especially as more veterans receive the benefits they’re owed thanks to the Honoring Our PACT Act.

Pappas’s Governing Unaccredited Representatives Defrauding (GUARD) VA Benefits Act would reinstate criminal penalties for unaccredited claim representatives who charge unauthorized fees while assisting veterans with filing a claim for VA disability compensation benefits. This legislation will discourage for-profit companies from operating outside the bounds of federal law, and will give VA and other agencies an additional tool to protect veteran claimants from predatory practices.

Pappas has been working to raise awareness of and protect veterans from the predatory practices of claims sharks since 2021, calling on VA to improve awareness, chairing an oversight hearing on the topic, and introducing the GUARD VA Act in both the 117th, 118th, and 119th Congresses.