Sec. 5. Improved disability determinations
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Section 437(a) ( 20 U.S.C. 1087(a) ) is amended— by striking paragraph
(2)and inserting the following: A borrower who has been assigned a disability rating of 100 percent (or a combination of ratings equaling 100 percent or more) by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs or the Secretary of Defense for a service-connected disability (as defined in section 101 of title 38, United States Code) and who provides documentation of such rating to the Secretary of Education, shall be considered permanently and totally disabled for the purpose of discharging such borrower's loans under this subsection, and such borrower shall not be required to present any additional documentation for purposes of this subsection. A disability rating described in subparagraph (A), or similar determination of unemployability by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs or the Secretary of Defense, transmitted in accordance with subparagraph
(C)shall be considered sufficient documentation for purposes of this subsection. Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of the Servicemember Higher Education Protection Act, the Secretary, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, shall create a system through which the applicable disability ratings (or alternative means of transmitting a determination of unemployability) shall be automatically transmitted from the Department of Defense or the Department of Veterans Affairs, as the case may be, to the Department of Education and shall satisfy the documentation requirement described in this paragraph. ; and by adding at the end the following: A borrower who has been determined by the Social Security Administration to be disabled with medical improvement not expected and who provides documentation of such determination to the Secretary of Education, shall be considered permanently and totally disabled for the purpose of discharging such borrower's loans under this subsection, and such borrower shall not be required to present additional documentation for purposes of this subsection. A borrower of a loan that is discharged under paragraph
(2)or
(3)shall not be subject to the reinstatement provisions described in paragraph (1). The Secretary shall annually collect data about borrowers applying for, and borrowers receiving, loan discharges under this subsection, which shall include the following: Data regarding— the number of applications received under this subsection; the number of such applications that were approved; and the number of loan discharges that were completed under this subsection. A summary of the reasons why the Secretary reinstated the obligation of, and resumed collection on, loans discharged under this subsection. The data described in subclauses
(I)through
(III)of clause (i), and clause (ii), for each of the following: Borrowers applying for, and borrowers receiving, loan discharges under paragraph (2)(A). Borrowers applying for, and borrowers receiving, loan discharges under paragraph (2)(B). Borrowers applying for, and borrowers receiving, loan discharges under paragraph (3). Any other information the Secretary determines is necessary. The Secretary shall annually report to Congress, and make publicly available, the information described in subparagraph (A). . Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Education shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report that includes a plan to carry out the activities described under section 437(a)(2)(B)(iii) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 ( 20 U.S.C. 1087(a)(2)(B)(iii) ), as amended by this section. If the Secretary of Education has not carried out the activities described under section 437(a)(2)(B)(iii) of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended by this section, by the date that is 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Education shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress, by such date, a report that includes an explanation of why those activities have not been implemented.
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Sec. 5
Improved disability determinations
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