Sponsors (27)
The bill expands and clarifies survivor benefits and directs data collection to identify high-risk veterans and inform policy, but it excludes spouses married under eight years, applies only prospectively, and could create fiscal and administrative strains if benefits are expanded without added funding.
Surviving spouses of veterans who die from ALS will be eligible to receive increased dependency and indemnity compensation regardless of how long the veteran had ALS before death.
Veterans with high-mortality service-connected conditions can be identified for ALS-equivalent benefits and presumptions, improving access to benefits and tailored care for at-risk veterans.
Congress (and policymakers) will receive mortality and life-expectancy data within 180 days, giving lawmakers better information to make policy decisions about veterans' benefits.
Spouses who were married to the veteran for less than eight continuous years will be ineligible for these ALS-related survivor payments, excluding some families from support.
The change is prospective only (effective Oct 1, 2025), so survivors of veterans who died of ALS before that date will not receive relief from this legislation.
Expanding eligibility and creating ALS-equivalent presumptions could increase VA benefit costs and strain VA program resources or taxpayers if expansions proceed without additional funding.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Introduced February 27, 2025 by Brian K. Fitzpatrick · Last progress February 27, 2025
Treats veterans who die from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) as automatically eligible for increased dependency and indemnity compensation (DIC) regardless of how long they had ALS before death, and defines a qualifying “surviving spouse” for those ALS deaths as a person married to the veteran for at least eight continuous years. Benefits under this rule apply to veterans who die from ALS on or after October 1, 2025. Requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to report to Congress within 180 days of enactment identifying any other service-connected disabilities (besides ALS) that should receive the same treatment, including a list of high-mortality service-connected disabilities and average life-expectancy data for each listed condition.