(The Center Square) — New Hampshire Sen. Maggie Hassan is touting outgoing President Joe Biden’s signature on a bipartisan bill that seeks to improve health care access for military veterans and ease workforce shortages.
The Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act, signed by Biden on Thursday, expands programs, benefits and services provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs, including health care, educational assistance, home loans, homelessness, and disability and memorial affairs.
Hassan, a Democrat who co-sponsored the bipartisan bill with Rep. Jerry Moran, a Kansas Republican, said the measure will increase veterans’ access to non-institutional alternatives to nursing home care – such as in-home health care – by covering these services up to the same rate that nursing home care is covered. It will also create a pilot program for the VA to hire home health aides to offset a chronic shortage of workers, she said.
“While we can never fully repay the debt that we owe to veterans for their service to our country, this bipartisan legislation is one way that we can provide more veterans and their families with the support that they have earned and deserve,” Hassan said in a statement. “I am glad that we came together on both sides of the aisle to pass into law this bill that will, in particular, help more veterans age with dignity.”
A key provision in the bill, named after the former senator and veterans caregiver advocate Elizebeth Dole, seeks to make home nursing care more affordable for veterans by increasing the VA’s share of covering the costs of the care from 65% to 100%, according to lawmakers.
The new law increases the per diem rate the VA pays to organizations providing short-term transitional housing from 115% of costs to 133%. It also gives the VA more flexibility to provide homeless veterans with shelter, food and basic necessities. The VA will also be required to conduct outreach to inform veterans about applying for community health care eligibility, request care and services, and appeal denials of requests for services.
“We have spent almost two years working tirelessly with our coalition partners to ensure a better future for our veterans, caregivers, survivors, and their families,” said Elizabeth Dole Foundation CEO Steve Schwab in a statement after the bill’s passage. “Through this life-changing and lifesaving legislation, we are one step closer to our vision of an America where veterans and their families thrive.”
The legislation was backed by more than 50 groups, including Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion and Disabled Veterans of America, who say it will improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of veterans.
Daniel Contreras, the DAV’s national commander, said the new law will bring “much needed relief to America’s veterans and their caregivers” and shows what Congress can do when Republicans and Democrats work together to pass legislation.
“This expansive package is an excellent example of how our elected leaders can positively impact the lives of veterans when they come together,” he said in a statement.
