I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5701 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve assistance and support 

services for caregivers of veterans. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 29, 2020 

Mr. HUDSON (for himself and Miss RICE of New York) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve assistance 

and support services for caregivers of veterans. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Care for the Veteran 

5 Caregiver Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENTS TO THE PROGRAM OF COM7 PREHENSIVE ASSISTANCE FOR FAMILY CARE8 GIVERS. 

9 (a) EXTENDED STIPEND PAYMENTS.—Subpara10 graph (C) of paragraph (3) of section 1720G(a) of title 


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1 38, United States Code, is amended by inserting after 

2 clause (iv) the following new clause: 

3 ‘‘(v) If an eligible veteran dies during the period in 

4 which the Secretary provides to the family caregiver of 

5 such veteran assistance under subparagraph (A), the Sec6 retary shall continue to provide to the family caregiver 

7 medical care under section 1781 of this title and the 

8 monthly personal caregiver stipend for not less than a six9 month period following the date of such death. The Sec10 retary may extend such period for all, or groups of, family 

11 caregivers of eligible veterans specified in paragraph 

12 (2)(C).’’. 

13 (b) ELIGIBILITY FOR THE PROGRAM OF COM14 PREHENSIVE ASSISTANCE FOR FAMILY CAREGIVERS.— 

15 (1) STANDARDIZED EVALUATION CRITERIA.— 

16 Subparagraph (D) of paragraph (3) of such section 

17 is amended— 

18 (A) by striking ‘‘In providing’’ and insert19 ing ‘‘(i) In providing’’; and 

20 (B) by adding at the end the following new 

21 clause: 

22 ‘‘(ii) In conducting periodic evaluations under clause 

23 (i), the Secretary shall ensure that the criteria used in 

24 conducting such evaluations, the methods by which such 

25 criteria are assessed, the measurements and standards 


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1 used, and the evaluation process and review methods used, 

2 are standardized across all facilities of the Department 

3 and Veteran Integrated Service Networks.’’. 

4 (2) PERMANENT ELIGIBILITY.—Subparagraph 

5 (C) of such paragraph is amended— 

6 (A) by redesignating clause (iv) as clause 

7 (v); and 

8 (B) by inserting after clause (iii) the fol9 lowing new clause: 

10 ‘‘(iv) Based upon the criteria specified in clause 

11 (iii), the Secretary shall establish a process by which 

12 veterans who are determined to have the most sig13 nificant need for caregiver assistance are perma14 nently eligible under this subsection.’’. 

15 (c) STANDARDIZED APPLICATION PROCEDURES.— 

16 Paragraph (5) of such section is amended to read as fol17 lows: 

18 ‘‘(5)(A) For each application submitted jointly by an 

19 eligible veteran and family member, the Secretary shall 

20 evaluate (in collaboration with the primary care team for 

21 the eligible veteran to the maximum extent practicable)— 

22 ‘‘(i) the eligible veteran—— 

23 ‘‘(I) to identify the personal care services 

24 required by the eligible veteran; and 


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1 ‘‘(II) to determine whether such require2 ments could be significantly or substantially 

3 satisfied through the provision of personal care 

4 services from a family member; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) the family member to determine the 

6 amount of instruction, preparation, and training, if 

7 any, the family member requires to provide the per8 sonal care services required by the eligible veteran— 

9 ‘‘(I) as a provider of personal care services 

10 for the eligible veteran; and 

11 ‘‘(II) as the primary provider of personal 

12 care services for the eligible veteran. 

13 ‘‘(B) In establishing and evaluating the applications 

14 under subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall ensure that 

15 the criteria used in accepting and evaluating such applica16 tions, the methods by which such applications are evalu17 ated, the measurements and standards used, and the eval18 uation process and review methods used, are standardized 

19 across all facilities of the Department and Veteran Inte20 grated Service Networks.’’. 

21 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Such section is 

22 further amended— 

23 (1) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘under para24 graph (5)(B)’’ and inserting ‘‘under paragraph 

25 (5)(A)(ii)’’; and 


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1 (2) in paragraph (7)(B), by striking ‘‘under 

2 paragraph (5)(A)(i)’’ and inserting ‘‘under para3 graph (5)(A)(i)(I)’’. 

Æ 


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