Those in the highest tier - at least 40 hours of care a week - receive the largest amount.įrom the outset, VA officials estimated that most of the participants in the lowest tier would lose eligibility, as would some in the middle tier, or roughly 6,000 veterans.Īs the assessments started, however, it became clear that many more would be booted from the program - 90% by VA estimates. While the previous eligibility rules were similar, the VA used a different evaluation scoring system and based stipends on the amount of time required to provide care, with those in the lowest tier needing 10 hours of care a week. Under the new rules, roughly 19,700 legacy participants were to be assessed for continued participation. To prepare for the influx of new caregivers, the VA changed the eligibility criteria, with the idea that the neediest of veterans, including legacy participants and new beneficiaries, would be helped without radically increasing the cost of the program. In 2018, Congress voted to expand the Family Caregiver program to veterans of previous conflicts, starting first with the oldest veterans. Known as the Pro-Veteran Canon, the plaintiffs said that decisions on benefits for members should be "construed in the beneficiaries' favor."Īttorneys for the VA maintained that the department has the authority to make rules, and the law allowed it to consider how the program would work in the larger benefits landscape in forming the new regulations. Supreme Court, Veteran Warriors Inc., working in partnership with the National Veterans Legal Services Program, said the court should intervene because legal precedence indicated that any decision should have favored the veteran, not the federal government. "The Final Rule does not account for any assessment by the family caregiver of the needs and limitations of the veteran, nor does it consider the amount and degree of personal care services provided, or the amount of time required for the family caregiver to provide any necessary supervision, protection or instruction to the veteran," the plaintiffs wrote in their argument to the appeals court. The Sheetses also rejected the criterion that the veteran must need complete assistance for at least one routine daily activity. The suit took issue with the VA's definition of "serious injury," as well as a new requirement that caregiver duties be performed in person. The new rules introduced prior to program expansion were more restrictive than previously, requiring that a veteran must have sustained a serious injury, was in need of in-person personal care, and was 100% unable to perform at least one or more activities of daily living, such as bathing, dressing, eating or getting around. The program initially was created to support post-9/11 combat-injured veterans, providing additional compensation and benefits to a veteran who relied on a spouse or family member for care rather than hire a home health aide or live in a nursing facility.
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