(Washington, D.C.) – Today, Senate Veterans’ Affairs
Committee Chairman Patty Murray issued the following statement after the
Department of Veterans Affairs announced that, even after long delays, there is
still no definitive date when veterans and caregivers will begin receiving the
services required by the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act. VA also put forth criteria
narrowing eligibility for the caregiver program. The VA, in a report submitted
today to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, unveiled criteria which would
seriously limit access to the benefit further from the approximately 3,500
veterans who would be eligible under the plan passed by Congress and enacted
into law on May 5, 2010.
The VA
announcement comes just days after Senator Murray sent a bi-partisan
letter, cosigned by 17 additional Senators, calling on the Administration
to end delays in moving forward with the law which provides the families of
seriously injured Iraq and Afghanistan veterans with training to become
caregivers for those veterans, and ongoing supportive services including
respite, counseling, technical assistance, and a living stipend. The law
directed VA to begin providing caregiver support by January 30, 2011. The
Administration is only now preparing regulations – which will have to undergo a
lengthy public comment and approval process – to implement the law.
“I
appreciate the VA coming forward today with their plan to implement the
Caregivers Act. I remain concerned by the delay in moving forward with
providing this crucial benefit for those that are taking care of our wounded
warriors.
“Unfortunately the plan they put forward today is
simply not good enough. The VA outlined how they intended to limit this benefit
to an even smaller group of caregivers than intended by Congress, which is
unacceptable.
“This law was passed to help support the thousands of
family members of veterans who have left behind careers, lives, and
responsibilities to see that their loved one can recover from wounds they
suffered defending our country. It’s a cost of war that for too long has gone
unaccounted for but it’s one that last year Congress very clearly decided that
our country must step up to meet. I’m not going to let the VA minimize the
impact of the bill that we passed.
“I know that this Administration has made clear that
they want to provide new support for our military families. This is a critical
step to doing just that. Nowhere is providing support more important than
in the homes of those severely wounded veterans who everyday need help from
their families just to get through the day.”
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