VA omnibus bill including community care and pay waiver updates heading to Biden’s desk
A compendium of bills packaged into the Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act features veteran educational assistance funding, community care improvements, increased funding for veteran homelessness providers and more.
The House passed a compendium of veterans care proposals, packaged into a single bill, on Monday, sending it to the president’s desk in the waning days of the congressional session.
The Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act (S.141) — which provides the Veterans Affairs Department with everything from community care improvements to expanded home care and educational assistance benefits — cleared the chamber in a 382-12 vote Monday night after previously passing the Senate by unanimous consent on Dec. 12.
The legislation serves as an omnibus package of previous House and Senate bills designed to improve VA community care offerings, quality care standards and other programs, while offering benefit increases for veterans and some providers.
“We worked hard to craft this legislation to put veterans – not government bureaucracy – at the core of it,” said House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Mike Bost, R-Ill., in a statement. “The Dole Act will do that by expanding economic opportunities, simplifying the disability claims process, reforming services for aging veterans, opening more doors for mental health support and a lot more.”
Among the bill’s provisions are:
- Funding for the VA VET-TEC educational assistance program to expand veteran high-tech career opportunities through Sept. 30, 2027
- A program to provide eligible veterans with funding for in-home care services.
- Creating pilot programs to improve VA community care administration; dental care approval; provide care through select Veterans Integrated Service Networks for veterans in rural and urban areas with high rates of suicide, substance abuse or accessibility challenges, provide in-home care services in geographic areas with home health aide shortages by authorizing the VA secretary to hire nursing assistants and others.
- Provides community mental health grants for family caregivers of certain veterans
- Increases the expenditure cap for certain veterans' non-institutional care alternatives to nursing home care, such as in-home care
- Would direct the Government Accountability Office to examine mental health needs, options for support in VA and community care facilities and accessibility and barriers to mental health support services
- Calls for the establishment of a central website to provide caregiver program information, eligibility information and assessment offerings
- Allows the VA secretary to issue 300 pay limitation waivers for recruiting or retaining critical health care positions
- Allows the VA secretary to pay covered employees retroactive compensation for deferred payment due to exceeding annual pay caps between Jan. 8, 2006, and Dec. 31, 2017.
- Increases the per diem rates for veteran homelessness providers partnering with the VA through Sept. 30, 2027
Rep. Juan Ciscomani, R-Ariz., who sponsored a House version of the bill, said in a statement that the legislation would make “great strides to modernize and reform the VA, expand access to job training and employment opportunities, streamline the disability claims process and improve the delivery of care and benefits, whether at the VA or at home,” and urged President Biden to quickly sign it into law.
NEXT STORY: What difference does 2.5% make?