Group wants Congress to pass caregiver bill - Military News | News From Afghanistan, Iraq And Around The World - Military Times

Group wants Congress to pass caregiver bill

A group of 19 military, veterans and medical organizations are urging Congress to quickly work out differences in legislation providing new benefits to caregivers of severely disabled veterans, saying that families are waiting for the desperately needed help.

“We stand ready to assist you in moving this vital legislation,” the combined groups say in a Dec. 9 letter that comes as House and Senate leaders plan their schedules for the final days of the 2009 legislative session.

“Strong caregiver assistance legislation this year will help our wounded warriors achieve maximum possibility rehabilitation with dignity,” the letter says,

Congressional aides, speaking on the condition of not being identified, said the staffs of the House and Senate veterans’ affairs committees are trying to work out differences between the Senate’s Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Services Act and the House’s Caregivers Assistance and Resource Enhancement Act but were not making any promises that a compromise could be reached this year.

“We are working on a benefits’ bill and would like to get it passed this year,” said a Senate aide. “But, you never know how things will turn out.”

There is strong bipartisan support in Congress for the basic elements of a caregiver benefit that would include training in how to take care of a bed-ridden veteran to allow the veteran to be home rather than in an institution. Trained and certified caregivers, either a family member or close friend, would be eligible for a modest living stipend and basic health care benefits, including mental health counseling, and the government would arrange for occasional respite care so the caregiver could take a break.

Differences in the details, like who would be eligible, what training and certification should be required and how many people would be covered, must be worked out if a compromise measure is to pass.

The military, veterans’ and medical groups favor wider eligibility. The Senate bill, S 1963, would provide caregiver benefits only to those caring for severely disabled veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, while the House bill, HR 3155, would apply to veterans of all generations. The letter says the groups favor the House legislation, with its immediate benefits for caregivers of veterans from all eras.

Signing the letter were the: American Legion, American Veterans with Brain Injury, Blinded Veterans Association, Brain Injury Association of America, Disabled American Veterans, Fleet Reserve Association, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, Military Officers Association of America, National Military Family Association, National Order of Battlefield Commissions, Mental Health America, Military Order of the Purple Heart, Naval Enlisted Reserve Association, Paralyzed Veterans of America, Quality of Life Foundation, Retired Enlisted Association, Veterans’ Families United, Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Wounded Warrior Project.