Supporting Veteran Caregivers Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1648 To reinstate and compensate family caregivers who were improperly removed from the family caregiver program of the Department of Veterans Affairs or whose benefits were reduced and to ensure all veteran caregivers receive the support and assistance to which they are eligible in a fair and consistent manner, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 23 (legislative day, MAY 22), 2019 Mr. CASEY (for himself, Mr. TESTER, and Mrs. MURRAY) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Vet- erans’ Affairs A BILL To reinstate and compensate family caregivers who were improperly removed from the family caregiver program of the Department of Veterans Affairs or whose benefits were reduced and to ensure all veteran caregivers receive the support and assistance to which they are eligible in a fair and consistent manner, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Supporting Veteran 4 Caregivers Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:11 Jun 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1648.IS S1648 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 1648 IS SEC. 2. REINSTATEMENT AND RESTORATION OF BENEFITS 1 FOR CERTAIN FAMILY CAREGIVERS UNDER 2 FAMILY CAREGIVER PROGRAM OF DEPART- 3 MENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 4 (a) REEVALUATION OF BENEFITS.—The Secretary of 5 Veterans Affairs shall reevaluate the cases of all family 6 caregivers who were removed from the program or whose 7 benefits under the program were reduced on the basis of 8 clinical eligibility on or after January 1, 2015, to ensure 9 that such removal or reduction was consistent with eligi- 10 bility criteria for the program under section 1720G(a) of 11 title 38, United States Code. 12 (b) REINSTATEMENT AND REVERSAL OF BENEFIT 13 REDUCTION.—Not later than 180 days after the date of 14 the enactment of this Act, on the basis of the reevaluation 15 under subsection (a), the Secretary shall— 16 (1) offer reinstatement in the program to any 17 family caregiver who was found to be improperly re- 18 moved from the program; and 19 (2) reverse any reduction in benefits for a fam- 20 ily caregiver under the program that was found to 21 be improper. 22 (c) COMPENSATION FOR CAREGIVERS WRONGFULLY 23 DISCHARGED OR DOWNGRADED.—Not later than 180 24 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec- 25 retary shall— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:11 Jun 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1648.IS S1648 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 1648 IS (1) compensate any family caregiver who was 1 reinstated into the program under subsection (b)(1) 2 in an amount equal to the amount of the stipends 3 that the family caregiver would have received during 4 the period beginning on the removal of the family 5 caregiver from the program and ending on the rein- 6 statement of the family caregiver in the program 7 under such subsection; and 8 (2) compensate any family caregiver whose ben- 9 efits were restored under subsection (b)(2) in an 10 amount equal to the difference between the amount 11 of the stipends that the family caregiver received 12 during the period beginning on the reduction of such 13 benefits and ending on the reversal of such reduction 14 under such subsection. 15 (d) REPORT.— 16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 17 completing the reevaluations under subsection (a), 18 the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report de- 19 tailing the results of those reevaluations, including 20 any findings of inconsistencies in the administration 21 of the program across facilities of the Department of 22 Veterans Affairs. 23 (2) PLAN.—The Secretary shall include in the 24 report under paragraph (1) a plan to ensure that in- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:11 Jun 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1648.IS S1648 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 1648 IS consistencies in the administration of the program 1 are corrected. 2 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 3 (1) FAMILY CAREGIVER.—The term ‘‘family 4 caregiver’’ has the meaning given that term in sec- 5 tion 1720G(d) of title 38, United States Code. 6 (2) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means 7 the program of comprehensive assistance for family 8 caregivers of eligible veterans under section 9 1720G(a) of such title. 10 (3) STIPEND.—The term ‘‘stipend’’ means the 11 monthly personal caregiver stipend under section 12 1720G(a)(3)(A)(ii)(V) of such title. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:11 Jun 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1648.IS S1648 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS