Veterans Claims Quality Improvement Act of 2025
The Veterans Claims Quality Improvement Act of 2025 aims to raise the quality and consistency of how VA benefits claims are adjudicated, particularly focusing on decisions made by the Board of Veterans' Appeals (BVA). The bill would require new quality assurance and training programs, enhance transparency around remands (when a claim is sent back for further action), and establish stricter reporting to Congress about Board decisions and outcomes. It also seeks to reduce avoidable delays by addressing deferrals in processing, standardizing Office of General Counsel (OGC) opinions to avoid inconsistent rulings, and mandating planning to improve remand quality. In short, the bill creates mechanisms for monitoring, training, accountability, and public reporting to improve decision accuracy and timeliness in VA benefits adjudication. Key features include a Board quality assurance program, a training program for Board members and related staff, requirements to explain and share remand reasons and errors, annual reporting on remands and Board decisions, and a six-month plan to reduce unnecessary remands and improve remand processes. The act would also mandate notices to staff about avoidable deferrals in the National Work Queue and sponsor a study of OGC opinions to promote consistency in VA decisions.
Key Points
- 1Establish a quality assurance program for the Board of Veterans' Appeals that measures decision quality, tracks errors (including those remanded by the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims), and uses data (potentially with AI) to identify and fix recurring problems; require annual reporting to Congress.
- 2Create a comprehensive training program for Members of the Board and designated non-member staff who draft Board decisions; include annual assessments of training effectiveness (considering best practices like the Kirkpatrick model) and require reporting on training topics and results.
- 3Increase transparency around remands: require the Board to state the specific reasons for remanding a claim (including failures to meet duties to assist or notify) and, when feasible, provide copies of remand decisions to staff who contributed to the error to facilitate corrective action.
- 4Require annual reporting on Board remands and quality improvements: add a new 7115 section obligating the Board to report, disaggregated by whether rating decisions were dated before or after February 19, 2019, and to publish these reports within a year of enactment; also mandate an annual Board-related report as part of the quality program.
- 5Plan and process improvements: within six months, the VA Secretary must develop a plan to improve the quality of remand decisions and reduce unnecessary remands, and provide a six-month follow-up report to Congress; the bill also requires policies to notify staff about avoidable deferrals in the National Work Queue and a study/report on OGC opinions to promote consistency across VA decisions.