To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide health care for family members and other individuals who resided at or worked at locations where there is a presumption of service-connection for certain illnesses and conditions, and for other purposes.
Analysis under review: This bill has generated analysis that may be too generic or incomplete. Clause-level evidence remains available below.
Summary
What This Bill Does
This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide hospital care and medical services to non-veteran family members and other individuals who lived or worked at locations where veterans are presumed to have developed service-connected illnesses, such as contaminated military bases like Camp Lejeune. Eligible individuals must demonstrate they were exposed to the same hazardous conditions that give veterans a presumption of service-connection.
Who Benefits and How
Family members of veterans and civilian workers who lived or worked at contaminated military installations would gain access to VA health care for covered illnesses. This includes people who were in utero when their mothers lived or worked at such locations. These individuals currently have no pathway to VA medical care even though they may have been exposed to the same toxic substances as veterans.
Who Bears the Burden and How
The VA would bear increased health care costs, though the bill limits spending to amounts provided in advance by Congress. VA medical care is a payer of last resort under this bill: individuals must first exhaust all claims against third-party insurers before receiving VA care. The bill also requires annual reporting to Congress through 2028 on the number of individuals served.
Key Provisions
- Extends VA health care to non-veterans who resided at, worked at, or were in utero at locations with a presumption of service-connection
- Requires individuals to demonstrate exposure to the same conditions that qualify veterans for presumptive service-connection
- Makes VA care a last resort after exhausting third-party insurance claims
- Limits spending to amounts appropriated by Congress
- Requires annual reports to congressional Veterans Affairs committees through 2028
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Extends VA health care eligibility to family members and civilians who lived or worked at locations with a presumption of service-connected illness, such as military bases contaminated by toxic substances.
Key Policy Areas
Veterans Affairs, Public Health
Primary Purpose
Extends VA health care eligibility to family members and civilians who lived or worked at locations with a presumption of service-connected illness, such as military bases contaminated by toxic substances.
Policy Domains
Whole Bill
Identified Gains
- Family members of veterans at contaminated military bases
- Civilian workers at contaminated military installations
- Individuals exposed in utero at contaminated locations
Identified Costs
- Department of Veterans Affairs
- Federal taxpayers
Legislative Progress
IntroducedMs. Brownley introduced the following bill; which was referred to …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Military family members exposed to contamination, Veterans' family members with toxic exposure
Department of Veterans Affairs, VA healthcare system
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "Department of Veterans Affairs"
- → Provides health care to eligible non-veteran individuals
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology