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Bipartisan bill would raise DIC and relax 10‑year rule; TAPS and lawmakers press VA for clearer cost data
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Summary
Lawmakers and advocates backed the Caring for Survivors Act to raise dependency and indemnity compensation (DIC) from 43% toward 55% of a 100% disabled veteran's rate and reduce a 10‑year rule to five years; VA said it supports intent but needs statutory clarity and data to cost implementation.
Lawmakers, advocates and VA witnesses discussed legislation to increase the monthly Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) paid to surviving spouses and dependents and to relax a 10‑year eligibility rule that reduces benefits for survivors when a veteran was disabled for less than a decade before death.
Representative Hayes, sponsor of the Caring for Survivors Act, said the bill would raise DIC to 55% of the rate for a totally disabled veteran and reduce the 10‑year rule to five years, estimating an "approximate increase of more than $450 per month" for many survivors. Candice Wheeler of the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) told the subcommittee that DIC "has only been increased by COLA since 1993" and that raising the rate to parity with other federal survivor programs would provide "financial stability for surviving families."
VA witnesses said the department supports the intent of modernizing survivor benefits but asked for clearer statutory language and would require appropriations to implement changes. VA officials also noted technical data issues: the department does not always have cause‑of‑death codes or records for veterans who did not receive VA care, and some cost estimates have been driven by broad initial PACT Act projections that did not match actual claim filing rates. VA asked to work with the committee to refine bill text and the elements that the department would be required to report or track.
Ranking Member McGarvey and others pressed for more granular scenarios to inform cost estimates: lawmakers suggested the committee request alternate scoring based on plausible participation rates (for example, 10% or 50% of eligible survivors applying) and clarified that some costing questions depend on whether beneficiaries later qualify for full DIC when adjudicated.
The subcommittee did not vote on the bill but members and witnesses urged continued collaboration on statutory language and data assumptions before additional action.
