H.R. 1438 — Introduced in House

I 113th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 1438 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES April 9, 2013 Mr. Hastings of Florida (for himself, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Mica, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Grijalva, Ms. Bass, Ms. Wilson of Florida, Mrs. Christensen, Mr. Welch, Mr. Grayson, Mrs. McCarthy of New York, Mrs. Beatty, Mr. Deutch, Mr. Rangel, Mr. Faleomavaega, Ms. Jackson Lee, Ms. Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico, Mr. Cummings, Ms. Loretta Sanchez of California, Mr. Garcia, Mr. Gutierrez, Ms. Gabbard, and Ms. Brown of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To amend title 38, United States Code, to exempt reimbursements of certain medical expenses and other payments related to accident, theft, loss, or casualty loss from determinations of annual income with respect to pensions for veterans and surviving spouses and children of veterans, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Veterans Pensions Protection Act of 2013. 2. Exclusion of certain reimbursements of medical expenses and other payments from determination of annual income with respect to pensions for veterans and surviving spouses and children of veterans (a) In general Paragraph (5) of section 1503(a) of title 38, United States Code, is amended to read as follows: (5) payments regarding— (A) reimbursements of any kind (including insurance settlement payments) for— (i) expenses related to the repayment, replacement, or repair of equipment, vehicles, items, money, or property resulting from— (I) any accident (as defined by the Secretary), but the amount excluded under this subclause shall not exceed the greater of the fair market value or reasonable replacement value of the equipment or vehicle involved at the time immediately preceding the accident; (II) any theft or loss (as defined by the Secretary), but the amount excluded under this subclause shall not exceed the greater of the fair market value or reasonable replacement value of the item or the amount of the money (including legal tender of the United States or of a foreign country) involved at the time immediately preceding the theft or loss; or (III) any casualty loss (as defined by the Secretary), but the amount excluded under this subclause shall not exceed the greater of the fair market value or reasonable replacement value of the property involved at the time immediately preceding the casualty loss; and (ii) medical expenses resulting from any accident, theft, loss, or casualty loss (as defined by the Secretary), but the amount excluded under this clause shall not exceed the costs of medical care provided to the victim of the accident, theft, loss, or casualty loss; and (B) pain and suffering (including insurance settlement payments and general damages awarded by a court) related to an accident, theft, loss, or casualty loss, but the amount excluded under this subparagraph shall not exceed an amount determined by the Secretary on a case-by-case basis; . (b) Effective date The amendment made by subsection (a) shall take effect on the date that is 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.