Sponsors (3)
The bill creates a transparent, CPI‑U‑based review process that could help protect veterans' purchasing power and improve congressional oversight, but because reviews are advisory and may occur up to five years apart, benefit caps could still lag inflation and the VA will face modest administrative costs.
Veterans receiving VA maximum-coverage benefits could see periodic reviews aimed at aligning benefit caps with inflation, helping preserve their purchasing power.
House and Senate Veterans' Affairs Committees will receive regular data from the reviews, improving congressional oversight and helping inform policy decisions affecting veterans.
The statute uses the standard BLS CPI‑U measure for benchmarking, making the review methodology transparent and consistent across reporting periods.
Because the reviews are advisory (not required to trigger increases) and can occur as infrequently as every five years, VA benefit caps could still fall substantially behind inflation, reducing veterans' real benefits.
Carrying out and reporting the reviews adds administrative workload for the VA and may produce modest implementation costs borne by federal employees and taxpayers.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires VA to compare a statutory dollar amount to a CPI‑U based benchmark on Jan 1, 2026 and every five years, and report results to Congress.
Requires the VA Secretary to perform a periodic cost‑of‑living style review comparing a specific statutory dollar amount in 38 U.S.C. §1967(a)(3)(A)(i) to a CPI‑U based benchmark and submit the results to the House and Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committees. The first review is due January 1, 2026, and then every five years thereafter; the bill also adds the new statutory provision to the title and defines the Consumer Price Index used for the comparison.
Official title: To amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to periodically review the automatic maximum coverage under the Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance program and the Veterans' Group Life Insurance program, and for other purposes.
Introduced February 4, 2025 by Marilyn Strickland · Last progress December 12, 2025