Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 122.djvu/465

 12 2 STA T .4 42 PUBLIC LA W 11 0– 1 8 1 —J A N .28, 2008 worke r s,andphy s ic a l disa b ili t ye v al u ation board liaison o f ficers, in conductin gm edical evaluations of recovering service members .(F)S tandards for the ma x imum number of medical evaluation cases of recovering service members that are pending before a medical evaluation board at any one time, and re q uirements for the establishment of additional med - ical evaluation boards in the event such number is exceeded. ( G ) Standards for information for recovering service members, and their families, on the medical evaluation board process and the rights and responsibilities of recov- ering service members under that process, including a standard handbook on such information (which handbook shall also be available electronically). (b) PHYSICALD ISA B ILI T Y EV AL U ATI ON SO FRE COVE R IN G SERVICE M E M BERS. — ( 1 ) I N GENERAL.— N ot later than J uly 1, 20 0 8, the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of V eterans A ffairs shall develop a policy on improvements to the processes, procedures, and standards for the conduct of physical disability evaluations of recovering service members by the military departments and by the Department of Veterans Affairs. (2) ELEMENTS.— T he policy on improvements to processes, procedures, and standards required under this subsection shall include and address the following

(A) A clearly-defined process of the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs for dis- ability determinations of recovering service members. ( B ) To the extent feasible, procedures to eliminate unacceptable discrepancies and improve consistency among disability ratings assigned by the military departments and the Department of Veterans Affairs, particularly in the disability evaluation of recovering service members, which procedures shall be sub j ect to the following require- ments and limitations: (i) Such procedures shall apply uniformly with respect to recovering service members who are mem- bers of the regular components of the Armed Forces and recovering service members who are members of the National Guard and Reserve. (ii) U nder such procedures, each Secretary of a military department shall, to the extent feasible, utili z e the standard schedule for rating disabilities in use by the Department of Veterans Affairs, including any applicable interpretation of such schedule by the United States C ourt of Appeals for Veterans Claims, in making any determination of disability of a recov- ering service member, except as otherwise authorized by section 121 6 a of title 10, United States Code (as added by section 16 4 2 of this Act). (C) Uniform timelines among the military departments for appeals of determinations of disability of recovering service members, including timelines for presentation, consideration, and disposition of appeals. (D) Uniform standards among the military depart- ments for qualifications and training of physical disability Deadlin e .Po li cy.

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