[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 117 (Friday, June 18, 1999)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 32807]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-15521]
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DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
38 CFR Part 3
RIN 2900-AJ50
Pension Benefits
AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: This document amends the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
adjudication regulations to reflect statutory provisions extending the
date through which VA will limit the pension benefits of certain
veterans and surviving spouses receiving Medicaid-covered nursing home
care to $90 per month.
DATES: Effective Date: August 5, 1997.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Donald England, Chief, Regulations
Staff, Compensation and Pension Service, Veterans Benefits
Administration, 810 Vermont Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20420, telephone
(202) 273-7210.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 8003 of Pub. L. 101-508 required VA
to limit the pension benefits of any veteran having neither spouse nor
child and who receives Medicaid-covered nursing home care to no more
than $90 per month. This statutory provision expired September 30,
1992. Section 601 of Pub. L. 102-568 extended the expiration date of
that statutory provision until September 30, 1997. In addition, it
imposed a similar limitation on payment of death pension to surviving
spouses who receive Medicaid-covered nursing home care and have no
children. Section 12005 of Pub. L. 103-66 further extended the
expiration date until September 30, 1998, for these limitations on
payment of pension benefits to veterans and surviving spouses. Section
8015 of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, Pub. L. 105-33, extends the
expiration date until September 30, 2002. This document amends 38 CFR
3.551(i) to reflect this statutory change, which is effective August 5,
1997, the date of enactment of Pub. L. 105-33.
This final rule reflects statutory requirements. Accordingly, there
is a basis for dispensing with the prior notice and comment and delayed
effective date provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552 and 553.
Because no notice of proposed rulemaking was required in connection
with the adoption of this final rule, no regulatory flexibility
analysis is required under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C.
601-612). Even so, the Secretary hereby certifies that this final rule
will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of
small entities as they are defined in the Regulatory Flexibility Act.
The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance program numbers are
64.104 and 64.105.
List of Subjects in 38 CFR Part 3
Administrative practice and procedure, Claims, Disability benefits,
Health care, Pensions, Veterans, Vietnam.
Approved: May 11, 1999.
Togo D. West, Jr.,
Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 38 CFR part 3 is amended
as follows:
PART 3--ADJUDICATION
Subpart A--Pension, Compensation, and Dependency and Indemnity
Compensation
1. The authority citation for part 3, subpart A continues to read
as follows:
Authority: 38 U.S.C. 501(a), unless otherwise noted.
Sec. 3.551 [Amended]
2. Section 3.551(i) is amended by removing ``September 30, 1998''
and adding, in its place, ``September 30, 2002''.
[FR Doc. 99-15521 Filed 6-17-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8320-01-P
