II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2753 

To require a program to improve the provision of caregiver assistance services 

for veterans. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 4, 2006 

Mr. AKAKA introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To require a program to improve the provision of caregiver 

assistance services for 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. IMPROVEMENT OF SERVICES FOR CAREGIVERS 

4 OF VETERANS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

6 shall carry out a program to expand and improve the serv7 ices that assist caregivers of veterans, including veterans 

8 of the Global War on Terrorism. 


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1 (b) CAREGIVER ASSISTANCE SERVICES.—For pur2 poses of this section, the term ‘‘caregiver assistance serv3 ices’’ includes the following: 

4 (1) Adult-day health care services. 

5 (2) Coordination of services needed by veterans, 

6 including services for readjustment and rehabilita7 tion. 

8 (3) Transportation services. 

9 (4) Caregiver support services, including edu10 cation, training, and certification of family members 

11 in caregiver activities. 

12 (5) Home care services. 

13 (6) Respite care. 

14 (7) Hospice services. 

15 (8) Any modalities of non-institutional long16 term care. 

17 (c) FUNDING.— 

18 (1) SOURCE OF FUNDS.—In carrying out the 

19 program required by subsection (a), the Secretary 

20 shall identify, from funds available to the Depart21 ment of Veterans Affairs for medical care, an 

22 amount not less than $10,000,000 to be available to 

23 carry out the program and to be allocated to facili24 ties of the Department pursuant to subsection (d). 


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1 (2) MINIMUM ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—In 

2 identifying available amounts pursuant to paragraph 

3 (1), the Secretary shall ensure that, after the alloca4 tion of funds under subsection (d), the total expendi5 ture for programs in support of caregiver assistance 

6 services for veterans is not less than $10,000,000 in 

7 excess of the baseline amount. 

8 (3) BASELINE AMOUNT.—For purposes of para9 graph (2), the baseline amount is the amount of the 

10 total expenditures on programs in support of care11 giver assistance services for veterans for the most 

12 recent fiscal year for which final expenditure 

13 amounts are known, adjusted to reflect any subse14 quent increase in applicable costs to support such 

15 services through the Veterans Health Administra16 tion. 

17 (d) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS TO FACILITIES.—The 

18 Secretary shall allocate funds identified pursuant to sub19 section (c)(1) to individual medical facilities of the Depart20 ment in such amounts as the Secretary determines appro21 priate based upon proposals submitted by such facilities 

22 for the use of such funds for improvements to the support 

23 of the provision of caregiver assistance services for vet24 erans. Special consideration should be given to rural faciliVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:36 May 06, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2753.IS S2753

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1 ties, including those without a long-term care facility of 

2 the Department. 

3 (e) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the date 

4 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit 

5 to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and 

6 the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Rep7 resentatives a report on the implementation of this section. 

8 The report shall include information on the allocation of 

9 funds to facilities of the Department under subsection (d) 

10 and a description of the improvements made with funds 

11 so allocated to the support of the provision of caregiver 

12 assistance services for veterans. 

Æ 


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