H.R. 6813 — VA Insurance Improvement Act

This section expands eligibility for the Veterans Affairs life insurance program—previously the service-disabled veterans insurance program, limited to service-disabled veterans—to all veterans who apply before attaining 81 years of age (previously, service-disabled veterans who applied before age 81 or, if over age 81, filed a service-connected disability claim before that age with a subsequent determination and applied within two years of the determination). (As background, the program provides whole-life insurance policies in amounts of $10,000, $20,000, $30,000, $40,000, or a higher maximum if determined actuarially sound by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.) The section also revises the section heading and table of sections to reflect the new program name.

This section requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, for each fiscal year, to determine administrative costs allocable to the Veterans’ Mortgage Life Insurance program (i.e., mortgage protection insurance of up to $200,000 available to certain severely disabled veterans who received a VA-adapted housing grant) and reimburse the General Operating Expenses and Information Technology Systems, Department of Veterans Affairs, accounts from the Veterans Insurance and Indemnities account. (Thus, administrative costs previously funded from general appropriations are shifted to be covered by insurance funds.)