New VA Caregiver Regs

The Department of Veterans Affairs has published their new regulations for the Family Caregivers Program. They claim that it expands the program to include more family members who care for their wounded warriors. The link above takes you to a .pdf copy of the new reg in title 38, part 71 of the Code of Federal Regulations which is added and becomes effective today as it’s published in the Federal Register.

The Army Times encourages folks to apply for the benefit “ASAP”;

The Veterans Affairs Department will start accepting applications on Monday for a new, landmark benefits program for the caregivers of severely disabled Iraq- and Afghanistan-era veterans.

Full benefits, which will include living stipends, won’t be paid until July, but there is a good reason for caregivers to apply as soon as possible: Benefits will be retroactive to the date of application.

Applying for benefits is the first of many steps that will require working with caregiver coordinators at VA hospitals, getting the extent of the veteran’s disability assessed by VA doctors, and receiving rudimentary medical training in order to be certified as a caregiver. But for those who qualify, the program promises to improve the quality of life for both the disabled veterans, who will be able to stay at home rather than in a hospital or nursing home, and for caregivers, who often feel overburdened and unprepared to provide lifetime care.

Given the problems that the DVA has had rolling out this program, I’d advise people to apply now, too. The regs were supposed to published in January and here it is May already – but in my opinion, this is decades late. Anything to keep the troops in the arms of their families will be worth the effort this will inevitably require.

Category: Veteran Health Care