House passes Bresnahan bill to simplify veterans forms

The U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation — the Simplifying Forms for Veterans Claims Act — introduced by U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan, R-8, Dallas Twp.

The bipartisan bill, which passed by a vote of 386-1, would simplify forms required by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for veterans and survivors. Bresnahan introduced this bill on Feb. 13 and it passed unanimously out of the House Committee on Veteran’s Affairs on May 6. This is the first piece of legislation Bresnahan introduced and is his first legislation to pass the House.

“When our military members return home from serving our country, they are often tasked with filling out dozens of pages of paperwork in order to receive the benefits they’ve rightfully earned,” Bresnahan said. “Veterans and their families should not be subjected to a VA claims process that is more difficult and stressful than necessary.”

The Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) within VA requires veterans and survivors to complete standard forms to initiate and pursue claims for VA benefits, including disability compensation, pension, and survivors’ benefits. These forms can often be arduous and difficult to understand for veterans or their survivors, and failure to do correctly fill them out can result in delays in processing their claim, delays in receiving a decision on their claim, or even a denial of their claim.

Bresnahan introduced the Simplifying Forms for Veterans Claims Act to simplify the forms process to make VA standard forms more user-friendly. The legislation would require VA to contract with a nonpartisan, federally funded research entity to conduct a study on, and provide recommendations for, revising VA forms to be more understandable for veterans and their survivors. Following this study, the VA Secretary would be required to report findings to Congress and implement recommendations.