# Restoring Benefits to Defrauded Veterans Act of 2023

This bill helps veterans who were wrongly denied their military benefits get their money back. Specifically, it addresses situations where veterans lost their benefits because they were victims of fraud or deception—meaning someone tricked them or lied to them in a way that caused them to lose eligibility for benefits they should have received.

The core purpose is straightforward: if a veteran can prove they were defrauded and that fraud directly caused them to lose benefits, this law allows them to have those benefits restored. This might include disability payments, healthcare benefits, education assistance, or other military benefits that were incorrectly taken away. The bill essentially says the government should fix these mistakes and make veterans whole again by giving back what they lost.

This matters because veterans rely on these benefits for their livelihood, healthcare, and education. When someone commits fraud against a veteran—whether it's a scammer, a dishonest representative, or even a government employee acting improperly—the veteran shouldn't be the one who suffers the financial consequences. The bill recognizes that veterans who were victims of fraud shouldn't be permanently punished for something that wasn't their fault. It creates a pathway for these veterans to appeal their cases and recover the benefits they earned through their military service but lost due to someone else's dishonesty.

Restoring Benefits to Defrauded Veterans Act of 2023

Manchin, Joe, III

Restoring Benefits to Defrauded Veterans Act of 2023 This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to pay certain reissued benefits (i.e., benefits that were misused by a fiduciary) to a beneficiary's estate in situations where a beneficiary predeceases a payment. The VA must pay such benefits to an individual or entity in the following order: the estate of the beneficiary, a successor fiduciary serving the beneficiary when the beneficiary died, or the next inheritor determined by a court of competent jurisdiction.