Care for the Veteran Caregiver Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 5701 To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve assistance and support services for caregivers of veterans. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 29, 2020 Mr. HUDSON (for himself and Miss RICE of New York) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve assistance and support services for caregivers of veterans. 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 ‘‘Care for the Veteran 4 Caregiver Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENTS TO THE PROGRAM OF COM- 6 PREHENSIVE ASSISTANCE FOR FAMILY CARE- 7 GIVERS. 8 (a) EXTENDED STIPEND PAYMENTS.—Subpara- 9 graph (C) of paragraph (3) of section 1720G(a) of title 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 Jan 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5701.IH H5701 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 5701 IH 38, United States Code, is amended by inserting after 1 clause (iv) the following new clause: 2 ‘‘(v) If an eligible veteran dies during the period in 3 which the Secretary provides to the family caregiver of 4 such veteran assistance under subparagraph (A), the Sec- 5 retary shall continue to provide to the family caregiver 6 medical care under section 1781 of this title and the 7 monthly personal caregiver stipend for not less than a six- 8 month period following the date of such death. The Sec- 9 retary may extend such period for all, or groups of, family 10 caregivers of eligible veterans specified in paragraph 11 (2)(C).’’. 12 (b) ELIGIBILITY FOR THE PROGRAM OF COM- 13 PREHENSIVE ASSISTANCE FOR FAMILY CAREGIVERS.— 14 (1) STANDARDIZED EVALUATION CRITERIA.— 15 Subparagraph (D) of paragraph (3) of such section 16 is amended— 17 (A) by striking ‘‘In providing’’ and insert- 18 ing ‘‘(i) In providing’’; and 19 (B) by adding at the end the following new 20 clause: 21 ‘‘(ii) In conducting periodic evaluations under clause 22 (i), the Secretary shall ensure that the criteria used in 23 conducting such evaluations, the methods by which such 24 criteria are assessed, the measurements and standards 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 Jan 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5701.IH H5701 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 5701 IH used, and the evaluation process and review methods used, 1 are standardized across all facilities of the Department 2 and Veteran Integrated Service Networks.’’. 3 (2) PERMANENT ELIGIBILITY.—Subparagraph 4 (C) of such paragraph is amended— 5 (A) by redesignating clause (iv) as clause 6 (v); and 7 (B) by inserting after clause (iii) the fol- 8 lowing new clause: 9 ‘‘(iv) Based upon the criteria specified in clause 10 (iii), the Secretary shall establish a process by which 11 veterans who are determined to have the most sig- 12 nificant need for caregiver assistance are perma- 13 nently eligible under this subsection.’’. 14 (c) STANDARDIZED APPLICATION PROCEDURES.— 15 Paragraph (5) of such section is amended to read as fol- 16 lows: 17 ‘‘(5)(A) For each application submitted jointly by an 18 eligible veteran and family member, the Secretary shall 19 evaluate (in collaboration with the primary care team for 20 the eligible veteran to the maximum extent practicable)— 21 ‘‘(i) the eligible veteran—— 22 ‘‘(I) to identify the personal care services 23 required by the eligible veteran; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 Jan 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5701.IH H5701 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 5701 IH ‘‘(II) to determine whether such require- 1 ments could be significantly or substantially 2 satisfied through the provision of personal care 3 services from a family member; and 4 ‘‘(ii) the family member to determine the 5 amount of instruction, preparation, and training, if 6 any, the family member requires to provide the per- 7 sonal care services required by the eligible veteran— 8 ‘‘(I) as a provider of personal care services 9 for the eligible veteran; and 10 ‘‘(II) as the primary provider of personal 11 care services for the eligible veteran. 12 ‘‘(B) In establishing and evaluating the applications 13 under subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall ensure that 14 the criteria used in accepting and evaluating such applica- 15 tions, the methods by which such applications are evalu- 16 ated, the measurements and standards used, and the eval- 17 uation process and review methods used, are standardized 18 across all facilities of the Department and Veteran Inte- 19 grated Service Networks.’’. 20 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Such section is 21 further amended— 22 (1) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘under para- 23 graph (5)(B)’’ and inserting ‘‘under paragraph 24 (5)(A)(ii)’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 Jan 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5701.IH H5701 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 5701 IH (2) in paragraph (7)(B), by striking ‘‘under 1 paragraph (5)(A)(i)’’ and inserting ‘‘under para- 2 graph (5)(A)(i)(I)’’. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 Jan 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H5701.IH H5701 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS