Title 38 published on 2011-07-01
The following are only the Rules published in the Federal Register after the published date of Title 38.
For a complete list of all Rules, Proposed Rules, and Notices view the Rulemaking tab.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is taking final action to amend its regulation that governs VA services that are not subject to copayment requirements for inpatient hospital care or outpatient medical care. Specifically, the regulation is amended to exempt in-home video telehealth care from having any required copayment. This removes a barrier that may have previously discouraged veterans from choosing to use in-home video telehealth as a viable medical care option. In turn, VA hopes to make the home a preferred place of care, whenever medically appropriate and possible.
This final rule amends the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) regulations regarding access to VA facilities by pharmaceutical company representatives. The purposes of the rule are to reduce or eliminate any potential for disruption in the patient care environment, manage activities and promotions at VA facilities, and provide pharmaceutical company representatives with a consistent standard of permissible business practice at VA facilities. The amendments will facilitate mutually beneficial relationships between VA and pharmaceutical company representatives.
This final rule amends the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) regulations concerning the calendar date by which VA must receive an initial application for a State Home Construction Grant in order for the application to be included on the priority list for the award of grants during the next fiscal year. We require that initial application materials must be received by VA no later than April 15, instead of August 15, of the year before the fiscal year in which the application would be considered for inclusion on the priority list for the award of grants. We require certification of State matching funds to be submitted no later than August 1, instead of August 15, in order for the project to be placed in priority group 1 of the priority list for the next fiscal year. The purpose of these changes is to ensure that VA has sufficient time to process all applications received and timely prepare the priority list, so that we can accurately notify States that VA intends to select and fund particular projects. We also make technical revisions to conform our regulations to these revisions.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is amending its Schedule for Rating Disabilities by updating the schedule of ratings for the hemic and lymphatic systems to include AL amyloidosis. This regulatory action is necessary to add AL amyloidosis as one of the disease conditions and establish criteria for disability evaluation to fully implement the decision by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to grant presumptive service connection based on herbicide exposure for this disease. The intended effects are to provide consistency in disability ratings and to ease tracking of AL amyloidosis for statistical analysis.
This document amends the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) “Medical” regulations to add rules relating to medical foster homes. Prior to this final rule, VA's medical foster home program had, whenever possible and appropriate, relied upon regulations governing community residential care facilities; however, those regulations did not cover all aspects of medical foster homes, which provide community based care in a smaller, residential facility and to a more medically complex and disabled population. This final rule reflects current VA policy and practice, and generally conforms to industry standards and expectations.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) amends existing regulations to reflect a new statutory authority to extend eligibility for burial in a national cemetery to include parents of certain veterans, as authorized by the Veterans' Benefits Act of 2010 (the Act), enacted on October 13, 2010. The Act authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to inter the biological or legally adoptive parents of a deceased veteran if the deceased veteran is a hostile casualty or dies from a training-related injury, is interred in a VA national cemetery in a gravesite with available space, and has no spouse or child who is buried, or surviving spouse or child who, upon death, may be eligible for burial, in a national cemetery.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) adopts as a final rule the proposal to amend its adjudication regulations regarding service connection of dental conditions for treatment purposes. This amendment clarifies that principles governing determinations by VA's Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) for service connection of dental conditions for the purpose of establishing eligibility for dental treatment by VA's Veterans Health Administration (VHA), apply only when VHA requests information or a rating from VBA for those purposes. This amendment also clarifies existing regulatory provisions and reflects the respective responsibilities of VHA and VBA in determinations concerning eligibility for dental treatment.
This final rule amends the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) regulations governing Federal grants for the establishment, expansion, and improvement of veterans cemeteries. This final rule implements through regulation new statutory authority to provide grants for the establishment, expansion, and improvement of Tribal Organization veterans cemeteries, as authorized by Section 403 of the “Veterans Benefits, Health Care, and Information Technology Act of 2006” (the Act). The Act requires VA to administer grants to Tribal Organizations in the same manner and under the same conditions as grants to States. This final rule makes non-substantive changes to the part heading of Part 39 and the name of the State Cemetery Grants Service to more accurately reflect that VA awards veteran cemetery grants to States and Tribal Organizations. The final rule establishes criteria to guide VA's decisions on granting Tribal Organization requests to obtain grants for establishing, expanding, and improving veterans cemeteries that are or will be owned and operated by a Tribal Organization. The final rule also expands VA's preapplication requirement to all veterans cemetery grants as a means to promote consistency and communication in the grant application process. Further, the final rule revises VA regulations to address structural differences between Tribal Organizations and States.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) published in the Federal Register of September 23, 2008, a document amending its Schedule for Rating Disabilities by revising that portion of the Schedule that addresses the Skin, so that it more clearly reflected VA's policies concerning the evaluation of scars. In the preamble of that document, VA incorrectly stated the applicability date. VA made a similar error in the first sentence of the introductory paragraph of 38 CFR 4.118. This document corrects the error in the introductory paragraph of § 4.118.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) published in the Federal Register of September 23, 2008, a document amending its Schedule for Rating Disabilities by revising that portion of the Schedule that addresses the Skin, so that it more clearly reflected VA's policies concerning the evaluation of scars. In the preamble of that document, VA incorrectly stated the applicability date. VA made a similar error in the first sentence of the introductory paragraph of 38 CFR 4.118. This document corrects the error in the applicability date.
This document adopts as final, without change, the interim final rule amending regulations of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to reflect changes made by the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Improvements Act of 2010, effective August 1, 2011, that affect payment of vocational rehabilitation benefits for certain service-disabled veterans. Pursuant to these changes, a veteran, who is eligible for a subsistence allowance under chapter 31 of title 38, United States Code, and educational assistance under chapter 33 of title 38, United States Code, may participate in a rehabilitation program under chapter 31 and elect to receive a payment equal in amount to an applicable military housing allowance payable under title 37, United States Code, instead of the regular subsistence allowance under chapter 31. In addition, payments of subsistence allowances during periods between school terms are discontinued, and payments during periods of temporary school closings are modified.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is issuing this interim final rule to amend its adjudication regulation regarding compensation for disabilities suffered by veterans who served in the Southwest Asia Theater of Operations during the Persian Gulf War. This amendment is necessary to extend the period during which disabilities associated with undiagnosed illnesses and medically unexplained chronic multi-symptom illnesses must become manifest in order for a veteran to be eligible for compensation.
This document amends the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical regulations concerning emergency hospital care and medical services provided to eligible veterans at non-VA facilities. The amendments are required by section 402 of the Veterans' Mental Health and Other Care Improvements Act of 2008. Among other things, the amendments authorize VA to pay for emergency treatment provided to a veteran at a non-VA facility up to the time the veteran can be safely transferred to a VA or other Federal facility and such facility is capable of accepting the transfer, or until such transfer was actually accepted, so long as the non-VA facility made and documented reasonable attempts to transfer the veteran to a VA or other Federal facility.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is amending its Schedule for Rating Disabilities by revising the disability evaluation criterion provided for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) to provide an evaluation of 100 percent for any veteran with service-connected ALS. This change is necessary to adequately compensate veterans who suffer from this progressive, untreatable, and fatal disease. This change is intended to provide a total disability rating for any veteran with service-connected ALS.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) amends its medical regulations concerning the copayment required for certain medications. Under current regulations, beginning on January 1, 2012, the copayment amount must be increased based on the prescription drug component of the Medical Consumer Price Index, and the maximum annual copayment amount must be increased when the copayment is increased. A prior action “froze” the copayment amount for veterans in VA's health care system enrollment priority categories 2 through 6 and allowed for increased copayments, as required by the current regulation, only for veterans in priority categories 7 and 8. This document freezes copayments at the current rate for veterans in priority categories 2 through 6 for the next 12 months, and thereafter resumes increasing copayments in accordance with any change in the prescription drug component of the Medical Consumer Price Index (CPI-P).
This document amends a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Loan Guaranty regulation related to modification of guaranteed housing loans in default. Specifically, changes are made to requirements related to maximum interest rates on modified loans and to items that may be capitalized in a modified loan amount. In addition, we are revising the regulation to clarify that the holder of a loan may seek VA approval for a loan modification that does not otherwise meet prescribed conditions. The amendments are intended to liberalize the requirements for modification of VA-guaranteed loans and provide holders more options for working with veterans to avoid foreclosure.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is amending its regulation concerning the medical benefits package offered to veterans enrolled in the VA health care system. This rulemaking updates the regulation to conform to amendments made by the enactment of the Caregivers and Veteran Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010, which authorized VA to provide certain health care services to a newborn child of a woman veteran who is receiving maternity care furnished by VA. Health services for newborn care will be authorized for no more than seven days after the birth of the child if the veteran delivered the child in a VA facility or in another facility pursuant to a VA contract for maternity services.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is issuing this interim final rule that amends the regulations governing the Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance Traumatic Injury Protection (TSGLI) program by adding certain genitourinary (GU) system losses to the TSGLI Schedule of Losses and defining terms relevant to these new losses. This amendment is necessary to make qualifying GU losses a basis for paying GU-injured Servicemembers TSGLI benefits. The intended effect is to expand the list of losses for which TSGLI payments can be made.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) amends its regulations regarding clothing allowances. The amendment provides for an annual clothing allowance for each qualifying prosthetic or orthopedic appliance worn or used by a veteran for a service-connected disability or disabilities that wears out or tears a single article of the veteran's clothing and for each physician-prescribed medication used by a veteran for a skin condition that is due to a service-connected disability that affects a single outergarment. The amendment also provides two annual clothing allowances if a veteran wears or uses more than one qualifying prosthetic or orthopedic appliance, physician-prescribed medication for more than one skin condition, or an appliance and a medication for a service-connected disability or disabilities and the appliance(s) or medication(s) together cause a single article of clothing to wear out faster than if affected by a single appliance or medication. This amendment also makes certain technical changes to the rule.
This document affirms as final, without changes, a provision included in a final rule with request for comments that amended the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) regulations concerning community residential care facilities, contract facilities for certain outpatient and residential services, and State home facilities. That provision established a five-year period within which all covered buildings with nursing home facilities existing as of June 25, 2001, must conform to the automatic sprinkler requirement of the 2009 edition of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 101. This rule helps ensure the safety of veterans in the affected facilities.
This document amends the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) regulation pertaining to the applicability of certain VA regulations that restrict the disclosure of certain medical information to the Department of Defense (DoD). This interim final rule removes a restriction that is not required by the applicable statute, 38 U.S.C. 7332(e), and is inconsistent with the intent and purpose of that statute.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) amends its regulations concerning per diem payments to States to permit continuation of such payments in some situations for veterans who have been evacuated from a State home as a result of an emergency. Per diem is the daily rate paid by VA to a State for providing a specified level of care to eligible veterans in a facility that is officially recognized and certified by VA. This final rule authorizes VA to continue to pay per diem when veterans for whom VA is paying per diem are evacuated as a result of an emergency from a State home to a facility that is not recognized by VA as a State home. The rule requires, in order for per diem payments to continue while the veteran is relocated due to an emergency, that an appropriate VA official determine whether an emergency exists and whether the facility to which veterans may be evacuated (evacuation facility) complies with certain minimum standards. The rule establishes the minimum standards that facilities to which veterans are evacuated must meet in order for States to continue receiving per diem for relocated veterans. These standards also apply to evacuation facilities when veterans are evacuated from contract nursing homes.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is amending its hearing regulations to clarify that the provisions regarding hearings before the Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ) do not apply to hearings before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board).
This final rule establishes regulations for contracting with community-based treatment facilities in the Health Care for Homeless Veterans (HCHV) program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The HCHV program assists certain homeless veterans in obtaining treatment from non-VA community-based providers. The final rule formalizes VA's policies and procedures in connection with this program and clarifies that veterans with substance use disorders may qualify for the program.
This final rule amends Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical regulations to incorporate statutory amendments. Certain statutes authorizing VA health care benefits were amended by the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010. The statutory amendments affect enrollment in certain health care priority categories and exempt catastrophically disabled veterans from copayment requirements.
This document amends Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) regulations concerning the payment of per diem to a State for providing nursing home care to eligible veterans. The amendments remove a restriction on VA's payment of per diem, which required all non-veteran residents of a State home to be spouses of veterans, or parents of veterans all of whose children died while serving in the Armed Forces of the United States. Under this final rule, non-veteran residents of the State home must be spouses of veterans, or parents of veterans any of whose children died while serving in the Armed Forces.
This document amends the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) regulations governing the submission and processing of requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in order to implement provisions of the OPEN Government Act of 2007, and to reorganize and clarify existing regulations.
This interim final rule amends Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) regulations to reflect changes made by the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Improvements Act of 2010, effective August 1, 2011, that affect payment of vocational rehabilitation benefits for certain service-disabled veterans. Pursuant to these changes, a veteran, who is eligible for a subsistence allowance under chapter 31 of title 38, United States Code, and educational assistance under chapter 33 of title 38, United States Code, may participate in a rehabilitation program under chapter 31 and elect to receive a payment equal in amount to an applicable military housing allowance payable under title 37, United States Code, instead of the regular subsistence allowance under chapter 31. In addition, payments of subsistence allowances during periods between school terms are discontinued, and payments during periods of temporary school closings are modified. This rulemaking amends VA regulations consistent with this new authority.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) adopts as a final rule the proposal to amend its adjudication regulations regarding presumptive service connection for medically unexplained chronic multisymptom illnesses associated with service in the Southwest Asia theater of operations for which there is no record during service. This amendment implements a decision by the Secretary that there is a positive association between service in Southwest Asia during certain periods and the subsequent development of functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) and clarifies that FGIDs fall within the scope of the existing presumptions of service connection for medically unexplained chronic multisymptom illnesses.
The following are ALL rules, proposed rules, and notices (chronologically) published in the Federal Register relating to Title 38
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) proposes to amend its regulations concerning Fisher House and other temporary lodging furnished by VA while a veteran is experiencing an episode of care at a VA medical facility. We intend that the proposed rule would update current regulations to better describe the application process for this assistance and clarify the distinctions between Fisher House and other temporary lodging provided by VA. The proposed rule generally reflects current VA policy and practice, and conforms to industry standards and expectations.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) proposes to establish in regulation the readjustment counseling currently provided in VA's Vet Centers to certain veterans of the Armed Forces and members of their immediate families, and to implement provisions of the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010 (the 2010 Act) regarding readjustment counseling. Although for several decades VA has provided readjustment counseling to veterans and members of their immediate families, a regulation is now explicitly required by the 2010 Act. The 2010 Act makes certain current members of the Armed Forces who served on active duty in Operation Enduring Freedom or Operation Iraqi Freedom eligible for the readjustment counseling that VA currently provides to veterans and members of their immediate families. In addition, the proposed regulation would authorize Vet Centers to provide referral and advice to individuals who are not otherwise eligible for such counseling, and served in a theater of combat operations or in an area during a period of hostilities in that area, in accordance with the 2010 Act.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is proposing to amend its regulation that governs VA services that are not subject to copayment requirements for inpatient hospital care or outpatient medical care. Specifically, the regulation would be amended to exempt in-home video telehealth care from having any required copayment. This would remove a barrier that may have previously discouraged veterans from choosing to use in-home video telehealth as a viable medical care option. In turn, VA hopes to make the home a preferred place of care, whenever medically appropriate and possible.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) proposes to amend its regulations to establish a pilot program to offer premium-based dental insurance to enrolled veterans and certain survivors and dependents of veterans. VA would contract with a private insurer through the Federal contracting process to offer dental insurance, and the private insurer would then be responsible for the administration of the dental insurance plan. VA's role would primarily be to form the contract with the private insurer and verify the eligibility of veterans, survivors, and dependents. The program is authorized, and this rulemaking is required, by section 510 of the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010 (the 2010 Act).
This document proposes to amend the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) regulation authorizing tentative eligibility determinations to comply with amended statutory authority concerning statutory minimum active-duty service requirements. This document also proposes to codify in regulation statutory presumptions of medical-care eligibility for veterans of certain wars and conflicts who developed psychosis within specified time periods and for Persian Gulf War veterans who developed a mental illness other than psychosis within two years after service and within two years after the end of the Persian Gulf War period. We believe that regulations are necessary because we would interpret the law to allow VA to waive any copayments associated with care pursuant to the statutory presumption and to waive any otherwise applicable minimum service requirements.
We propose to revise and reorganize regulations which contain the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem Program. This rulemaking would update our current regulations, implement and authorize new VA policies, and generally improve the clarity of part 61.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) proposes to amend its Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance (SGLI) regulations in order to provide that, if a stillborn child is otherwise eligible to be insured by the SGLI coverage of more than one member, the child would be insured by the coverage of the child's SGLI-insured mother.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) proposes to amend its regulations in part 17 to establish a new program to provide grants to eligible entities to assist veterans in highly rural areas through innovative transportation services to travel to VA medical centers, and to otherwise assist in providing transportation services in connection with the provision of VA medical care to these veterans. This rulemaking is necessary to implement new statutory authority by establishing procedures for evaluating grant applications under the new grant program, and otherwise administering the new grant program. This proposed rule would implement section 307 of title III of the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010 (the 2010 Act).
The Department of Veterans Affairs (“VA”) proposes to amend its regulations governing Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance (“SGLI”) and Veterans' Group Life Insurance (“VGLI”) to prohibit payment of insurance proceeds payable because of the death of a person whose life was insured under SGLI or VGLI (“decedent”) or payment of a SGLI Traumatic Injury Protection (“TSGLI”) benefit to a person who is convicted of intentionally killing the decedent or determined in a civil proceeding to have intentionally killed the decedent (“slayer”); a member of the slayer's family who is not related to the decedent by blood, legal adoption, or marriage; and a member of the slayer's family who is related to the decedent by blood, legal adoption, or marriage and who is convicted of a crime involving the intentional killing of the decedent or found in a civil proceeding to have been involved in the intentional killing of the decedent.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) proposes to amend its regulation that governs the performance of autopsies on veterans. The proposed rule would correct a cross-reference to VA regulations that authorize certain outpatient and ambulatory care. The proposed rule would also clarify that consent for an autopsy will be implied if 6 months has passed since the decedent's death and there are no objections from the decedent's surviving spouse or next of kin. The proposed rule would also modify current regulations to make the laws of the jurisdiction in which the autopsy will be performed the controlling laws for purposes of determining who has authority to grant permission for the autopsy. The proposed rule would also clarify the authorized purposes of a VA autopsy. Lastly, the proposed rule would clarify that the authority to order an autopsy includes transporting the body at VA's expense to the autopsy facility.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) proposes to amend its regulation and internal policy documents concerning the billing methodology for non-VA providers of home health services and hospice care. The proposed rulemaking would include home health services and hospice care under the VA regulation governing payment for other non-VA health care providers. Because the newly applicable methodology cannot supersede rates for which VA has specifically contracted, this rulemaking will only affect providers who do not have existing negotiated contracts with VA. The proposed rule would also rescind internal guidance documents that could be interpreted as conflicting with the proposed rule.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) proposes to amend its regulations to update the reference to the required resident assessment tool for State homes that receive per diem from VA for providing nursing home care to veterans. The proposed rule would require State nursing homes receiving per diem from VA to use the most recent version of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Resident Assessment Instrument/Minimum Data Set (MDS), which is version 3.0. This will ensure that the standard used to assess veterans is the same as the standard applicable to Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries.
In a document published in the Federal Register on November 12, 2009, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) proposed to add a new section to its adjudication regulations to establish temporary VA procedures for when claimants allege the submission of claim-related documents or evidence in support of a claim during the time period of April 14, 2007, through October 14, 2008, when such documents or evidence are not of record in the official VA file.
This document amends the regulations of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) concerning the reimbursement of medical care and services delivered to veterans for nonservice-connected conditions. This rule applies in situations where third-party payers are required to reimburse VA for costs related to care provided by VA to a veteran covered under the third-party payer's plan. This final rule adds a new section barring offsets by third-party payers and requires that third-party payers submit a request for a refund for claims when there is an alleged overpayment.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) proposes to amend its regulations concerning veterans in need of service dogs. Under current regulations, VA provides benefits to veterans with guide dogs, and this rulemaking would broaden and clarify those benefits. This rulemaking would also implement new benefits related to service dogs.
The Department of Veterans Affairs published a document on February 6, 1997, amending 38 CFR part 3 by removing § 3.51. At that time, we failed to remove all the cross-references to 38 CFR 3.51 in other parts of 38 CFR. This document corrects that error by removing those cross-references.
This document proposes to amend the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) “Payment or Reimbursement for Emergency Services for Nonservice-Connected Conditions in Non-VA Facilities” regulations to conform with changes made by certain sections of the Expansion of Veteran Eligibility for Reimbursement Act. Some of the revisions in this proposed rule are purely technical, matching the language of our regulations to the language of the revised statute, while others set out VA's policies regarding the implementation of statutory requirements. The proposed rule would expand the qualifications for payment or reimbursement to veterans who receive emergency services in non-VA facilities, and would establish accompanying standards for the method and amount of payment or reimbursement.
This document proposes to amend the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) “Medical” regulations to add rules relating to medical foster homes. Currently, VA's medical foster home program, whenever possible and appropriate, relies upon existing regulations that govern community residential care facilities; however, these existing regulations do not adequately or appropriately cover all aspects of medical foster homes, which provide community based care in a smaller, residential facility and to a more medically complex and disabled population. The proposed rules reflect current VA policy and practice, and generally conform to industry standards and expectations.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is proposing to amend its regulations governing Federal grants for the establishment, expansion, and improvement of veterans cemeteries. We propose to implement through regulation new statutory authority to provide grants for the establishment, expansion, and improvement of Tribal Organization veterans cemeteries, as authorized by Section 403 of the “Veterans Benefits, Health Care, and Information Technology Act of 2006” (the Act). The Act requires VA to administer grants to Tribal Organizations in the same manner and under the same conditions as grants to States. The proposed rule would make non-substantive changes to the part heading of part 39 and the name of the State Cemetery Grants Service to more accurately reflect that VA awards veteran cemetery grants to States and Tribal Organizations. The proposed rule would establish criteria to guide VA's decisions on granting Tribal Organization requests to obtain grants for establishing, expanding, and improving veterans cemeteries that are or will be owned and operated by a Tribal Organization. The proposed rule would also expand VA's preapplication requirement to all veterans cemetery grants as a means to promote consistency and communication in the grant application process. Further, the proposed rule would revise VA regulations to address structural differences between Tribal Organizations and States.
This document promulgates Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) interim final regulations concerning a new caregiver benefits program provided by VA. This rule implements title I of the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010, which was signed into law on May 5, 2010. The purpose of the new caregiver benefits program is to provide certain medical, travel, training, and financial benefits to caregivers of certain veterans and servicemembers who were seriously injured in the line of duty on or after September 11, 2001.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is amending the Appeals Regulations of the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) to articulate the Board's practice of referring unadjudicated claims to the Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ) for appropriate action, and to describe when it is appropriate for the Board to remand a claim to the AOJ for the limited purpose of issuing a Statement of the Case (SOC). We are also amending the Board's Rules of Practice to outline the procedures the Board must follow when supplementing the record with a recognized medical treatise, and to remove the notice procedures the Board must currently follow when considering law not considered by the AOJ. The purpose of these amendments is to codify existing practices derived from caselaw, enhance efficiency, and provide guidance and clarification.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) proposes to amend its regulations concerning per diem payments to States to permit continuation of such payments in some situations for veterans who have been evacuated from a State home as a result of an emergency. Per diem is the daily rate paid by VA to a State for providing a specified level of care to eligible veterans in a facility that is officially recognized and certified by VA. This regulation would authorize VA to continue to pay per diem when veterans for whom VA is paying per diem are evacuated as a result of an emergency from a State home to a facility that is not recognized by VA as a State home. The regulation would require, in order for per diem payments to continue while the veteran is relocated due to an emergency, that an appropriate VA official determine whether an emergency exists and whether the facility to which veterans may be evacuated (evacuation facility) complies with certain minimum standards. This regulation would establish the minimum standards that facilities to which veterans are evacuated must meet in order for States to continue receiving per diem for relocated veterans. These standards would apply also to evacuation facilities when veterans are evacuated from contract nursing homes.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) proposes to amend its adjudication regulations regarding service connection of dental conditions for treatment purposes. The regulations currently state several principles governing determinations by VA's Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) of service connection of dental conditions for the purpose of establishing eligibility for dental treatment by VA's Veterans Health Administration (VHA). We propose to clarify that those principles apply only when VHA requests information or a rating from VBA for those purposes. The amendments are to clarify existing regulatory provisions and to reflect the respective responsibilities of VHA and VBA in determinations concerning eligibility for dental treatment.
This document establishes Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) regulations regarding the payment of a monthly assistance allowance to veterans training to make the United States Paralympics team, as authorized by section 703 of the Veterans' Benefits Improvement Act of 2008. The rule requires submission of an application to establish eligibility for the allowance and certification by the United States Paralympics. VA will pay the allowance to a veteran with a service-connected or nonservice-connected disability if the veteran is competing for a slot on or selected for the United States Paralympics team or is residing at a United States Paralympics training center.
This document affirms as final a proposed rule that amends the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical regulations to authorize VA to provide hospital and outpatient care to a veteran in a program that provides temporary housing upon release from incarceration in a prison or jail. The final rule permits VA to work with these veterans while they are in these programs with the goal of continuing to work with them after their release, which will assist in preventing homelessness in this population of veterans.
This document adopts as a final rule without change the proposed rule to amend the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) regulations governing the physical environment of State Home facilities. The final rule will require State Home facilities that receive a per diem for providing nursing home care to eligible veterans to meet certain provisions of the 2009 edition of the National Fire Protection Association's NFPA 101, Life Safety Code. The change is designed to assure that State Home facilities meet current industry-wide standards regarding life safety and fire safety.
This document proposes to amend the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) regulation concerning the calendar date that VA must receive an initial application for a State Home Construction Grant in order for the application to be included on the priority list for the award of grants during the next fiscal year. We propose to require that initial application materials must be received by VA on April 15, and not August 15, of the year before the fiscal year in which the application would be considered for inclusion on the priority list for the award of grants. Similarly, we propose to require that a State make its matching funds for a project available by April 15, and not August 15, in order for the project to be placed in priority group 1 of the priority list for the next fiscal year. The purpose of these changes is to ensure that VA has sufficient time to process all applications received and timely prepare the priority list. We also propose technical revisions to conform with these proposed revisions.
This document adopts as a final rule, with changes, the proposed rule to amend the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) regulations concerning community residential care facilities, contract facilities for certain outpatient and residential services, and State home facilities. The final rule will clarify current regulations and update the standards for VA approval of such facilities, including standards for fire safety and heating and cooling systems. The final rule will help ensure the safety of veterans in the affected facilities. This document also implements and seeks comments regarding a new interim final sprinkler system requirement for certain facilities.
Treasury, SSA, VA, RRB and OPM (Agencies) are issuing an interim final rule to implement statutory restrictions on the garnishment of Federal benefit payments. The rule establishes procedures that financial institutions must follow when they receive a garnishment order against an account holder who receives certain types of Federal benefit payments by direct deposit. The rule requires financial institutions that receive such a garnishment order to determine the sum of such Federal benefit payments deposited to the account during a two month period, and to ensure that the account holder has access to an amount equal to that sum or to the current balance of the account, whichever is lower.
This document affirms as final an interim final rule that froze until January 1, 2012, the copayment required for certain medications. Under those amendments, the copayment amount for veterans in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care system, enrollment priority categories 2 through 6, will remain at $8 and the copayment amount for veterans in enrollment priority categories 7 and 8 will remain at $9. The maximum annual copayment amount will also not increase. On January 1, 2012, the copayment amounts will increase based on the prescription drug component of the Medical Consumer Price Index (CPI-P). When the copayment increases, the maximum annual copayment amount automatically increases in turn.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) proposes to amend its regulations concerning adjudication of claims, representation of claimants, and Board of Veterans' Appeals rules of practice. These amendments would implement section 212 of the Veterans' Benefits Improvement Act of 2008, which allows an eligible survivor to substitute for a deceased claimant in order to complete the processing of the deceased claimant's claim. The intended effect of these amendments is to clarify the rules and procedures for those situations in which substitution is authorized. Under section 212, if a claimant dies while his or her claim or appeal is pending before VA, a survivor who would be eligible for accrued benefits under existing statutory authority may, not later than one year after the death of the claimant, request to be substituted for the claimant for the purposes of processing the claim or appeal to completion. Accordingly, after substitution, VA will continue to process the claim or appeal as if the claimant had not died. These amendments clarify the following matters: Eligibility for substitution, how an eligible survivor makes a request to substitute, how VA responds to requests to substitute, a substitute's rights in adjudication, limitations related to substitution, order of preference among eligible survivors, representation of substitutes, and procedures for substitution when a claim is before the Board of Veterans' Appeals.
This document amends Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) regulations to reflect changes made by section 504 of the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010. Section 504 authorizes a VA practitioner, when the practitioner deems it necessary to ensure an informed medical decision, to share certain, otherwise protected medical information with the representative of a patient who lacks decision-making capacity. This rulemaking amends VA regulations consistent with this new authority.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) proposes to amend its adjudication regulations regarding clothing allowances. The amendment would provide for annual clothing allowances for each qualifying prosthetic or orthopedic appliance worn or used by a veteran for a service-connected disability or disabilities that wears out or tears a distinct article of the veteran's clothing and for each physician-prescribed medication used by a veteran for a skin condition that is due to a service-connected disability that affects a distinct outergarment. The amendment would also provide two annual clothing allowances if a veteran wears or uses more than one qualifying prosthetic or orthopedic appliance, physician-prescribed medication for more than one skin condition, or an appliance and a medication for a service-connected disability or disabilities and the appliances(s) or medication(s) together cause a single article of clothing to wear out faster than if affected by a single appliance or medication.
This document adopts as a final rule the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) proposal to amend VA adjudication, medical, and vocational rehabilitation and employment regulations to incorporate relevant provisions of the Veterans Benefits Act of 2003. Specifically, this document amends VA regulations regarding herbicide exposure of certain veterans who served in or near the Korean demilitarized zone and regulations regarding spina bifida in their children. It also amends VA's medical regulations by correcting the Health Administration Center's hand-delivery address.
This document affirms as final, with changes, a final rule with request for comments that implemented portions of the Veterans Benefits, Health Care, and Information Technology Act of 2006. This law requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to verify ownership and control of veteran-owned small businesses, including service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses. This final rule rescinds the requirement that eligible owners work full-time in the business for which they have applied for acceptance in the Verification Program and that limits participants to a single business. It formally changes the time period for issuance of reconsideration decisions from 30 to 60 days and changes the distribution of profits for limited liability companies and employee stock ownership plans.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) proposes to reorganize and rewrite in plain language regulations governing VA compensation, pension, burial, and related benefits, including regulations concerning apportionments, payments to fiduciaries, and payments to incarcerated beneficiaries and fugitive felons. These revisions are proposed as part of VA's rewrite and reorganization of all of its compensation and pension rules in a logical, claimant-focused, and user-friendly format. The intended effect of the proposed revisions is to assist claimants, beneficiaries, and VA personnel in locating and understanding these regulations.
