H.R. 9237

Take Care of America’s Veterans Act

Sponsor: Mike Bost

30 cosponsors
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Official summary

Written by the Congressional Research Service.

Take Care of America's Veterans Act

This bill addresses veterans’ benefits, health care, counseling, Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) personnel, VA infrastructure, and the Veterans Community Care Program (VCCP).

The bill modifies various compensation programs for veterans, including by (1) allowing concurrent receipt of disability compensation and military retired pay for certain retirees with a combat-related disability, (2) extending entitlement for various benefits and services to remarried surviving spouses, (3) increasing the rate of dependency and indemnity compensation, and (4) establishing a supplemental monthly allowance for certain disabled veterans.

The bill also addresses VA education and training benefits, including by (1) modifying which independent study programs are covered under veterans’ educational assistance benefits, (2) requiring Transition Assistance Program counseling to include a presentation about VA benefits, and (3) increasing the housing allowance rate for individuals pursuing apprenticeships.

The bill revises health care provisions, including by (1) expanding support and assistance provided to family caregivers, (2) extending the Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program, and (3) expanding the scope of VA mental health research.

Among other elements, the bill

  • revises VA disability ratings for sleep apnea and tinnitus;
  • expands eligibility for a memorial headstone or marker for the spouse, surviving spouse, child, or dependent of a veteran or member of the Armed Forces;
  • addresses the administration of the VCCP and codifies the eligibility standards;
  • establishes a standardized screening process for priority or routine admission to certain mental health care programs; and
  • addresses VA personnel, hiring, and infrastructure matters.

Text of the bill

Expand all

I Compensation

II Education and Economic Opportunity

III Health Care

IV Organization

V Memorial Affairs

VI Veterans’ Assuring Critical Care Expansions to Support Servicemembers

A Improvement of Veterans Community Care Program

Sec. 606. Audit of representative sample of veterans receiving care and services under Veterans Community Care Program

Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, and not less frequently than annually thereafter for the following five years, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall—

(1) conduct an audit, for the one-year period preceding the audit, of—

(A) the number of veterans eligible for care or services under section 1703 of title 38, United States Code, and the reasons for such eligibility, including multiple such reasons for veterans eligible under more than one eligibility criteria;

(B) of those veterans eligible for care or services under section 1703 of title 38, United States Code, the number of veterans who are informed of such eligibility;

(C) the number of veterans who opt to seek care or services under such section;

(D) the number of veterans who do not opt to seek care or services under such section;

(E) the timeliness of referrals for care or services under such section and the timeliness of receipt of such care or services, including whether care or services received by the veteran through a non-Department of Veterans Affairs provider had a shorter wait time than the average wait time for such care or services at a facility of the Department;

(F) the number of requests for an appeal of a denial of care or services under such section using the clinical appeals process of the Veterans Health Administration;

(G) the timeliness of each such appeal; and

(H) the outcome of each such appeal; and

(2) submit to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives a report on the audit conducted under paragraph (1).

B Mental Health Treatment Programs

C Staffing Matters

D Optimization of Workforce

E Veterans Infrastructure and Transformation

F Other Health Care Matters