This bill requires Department of Veterans Affairs physicians and nurse practitioners to certify the deaths of their veteran patients within 48 hours of learning about the death, if the veteran died from natural causes. The legislation addresses reported cases where VA medical professionals delayed signing death certificates for up to eight weeks, which prevented timely burials and delayed survivors' access to benefits. If a VA provider cannot meet the 48-hour deadline, a local coroner or medical examiner may certify the death instead. The bill includes no specific funding authorization but requires the VA Secretary to submit annual reports to Congress starting one year after enactment, detailing compliance rates, the number of cases where the deadline was missed, and the reasons for any delays.
Take Action
Your position
Add a comment
to comment on this bill.
Annotate the text
Highlight any passage on the Summary or Full Text tab to attach a note. Annotations appear on the Annotations tab.