Gerald’s Law Act

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1330 To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide a burial and funeral allowance for certain veterans who die at home or in other settings while in receipt of hospice care furnished by the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 27, 2023 Mr. BOOZMAN (for himself and Mr. PETERS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide a burial and funeral allowance for certain veterans who die at home or in other settings while in receipt of hospice care furnished by the Department of Veterans Affairs, 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 ‘‘Gerald’s Law Act’’. 4 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:40 May 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1330.IS S1330 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1330 IS SEC. 2. BURIAL AND FUNERAL ALLOWANCE FOR CERTAIN 1 VETERANS WHO DIE AT HOME OR IN OTHER 2 SETTINGS WHILE IN RECEIPT OF HOSPICE 3 CARE FURNISHED BY DEPARTMENT OF VET- 4 ERANS AFFAIRS. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2303(a)(2)(A) of title 38, 6 United States Code is amended— 7 (1) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘; or’’ and insert- 8 ing a semicolon; 9 (2) in clause (ii)(III), by striking the period at 10 the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 11 (3) by adding at the end the following new 12 clause: 13 ‘‘(iii) a home or other setting at which the 14 deceased veteran was, at the time of death, re- 15 ceiving hospice care pursuant to section 16 1717(a) of this title if such care was directly 17 preceded by the Secretary furnishing to the vet- 18 eran hospital care or nursing home care as de- 19 scribed in subclause (I), (II), or (III) of clause 20 (ii).’’. 21 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 22 subsection (a) shall take effect as if included in the enact- 23 ment of the Johnny Isakson and David P. Roe, M.D. Vet- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:40 May 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1330.IS S1330 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1330 IS erans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2020 1 (Public Law 116–315; 134 Stat. 4932). 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:40 May 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1330.IS S1330 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS