II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1189 

To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to publish a strategic plan 

for long-term care, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 7, 2005 

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

to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL

To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to publish a 

strategic plan for long-term care, and for other purposes.

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

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 

4 Congress makes the following findings: 

5 (1) The number of aging veterans in the United 

6 States is increasing rapidly, with the number of vet7 erans 85 years old and older expected to increase 

8 from approximately 870,000 to 1,300,000 during 

9 the next 10 years. 
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1 (2) This group of veterans will have a signifi2 cant need for nursing home care and will require a 

3 variety of noninstitutional long-term care services. 

4 (3) The Department of Veterans Affairs is 

5 struggling to meet its current obligations and is ill 

6 prepared to meet the long-term care needs of Amer7 ica’s aging veteran population. 

8 (4) Long-term care was not included in the 

9 Capital Asset Realignment for Enhanced Services 

10 (CARES) process because of a lack of forecasts and 

11 policies needed to project and plan to meet future 

12 demands for long-term care. 

13 (5) The Department of Veterans Affairs has 

14 failed to comply with the CARES Commission’s 

15 2003 recommendation to develop a long-term care 

16 strategic plan, which failure has had a detrimental 

17 effect on the welfare of veterans in need of such 

18 care. 

19 SEC. 2. STRATEGIC PLAN FOR LONG-TERM CARE. 

20 (a) PUBLICATION.—Not later than 180 days after the 

21 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans 

22 Affairs shall publish a strategic plan for long-term care. 

23 (b) CONTENTS.—The plan published under sub24 section (a) shall— 
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1 (1) comply with the recommendations of the 

2 CARES Commission; 

3 (2) contain policies and strategies for— 

4 (A) the delivery of care in domiciliaries, 

5 residential treatment facilities, and nursing 

6 homes, and for seriously mentally ill veterans; 

7 (B) maximizing the use of State veterans 

8 homes; 

9 (C) locating domiciliary units as close to 

10 patient populations as feasible; and 

11 (D) identifying freestanding nursing homes 

12 as an acceptable care model; 

13 (3) include data on— 

14 (A) the care of catastrophically disabled 

15 veterans; and 

16 (B) the geographic distribution of cata17 strophically disabled veterans; 

18 (4) address the spectrum of noninstitutional 

19 long-term care options, including— 

20 (A) respite care; 

21 (B) home based primary care; 

22 (C) geriatric evaluation; 

23 (D) adult day health care; 

24 (E) skilled home health care; and 

25 (F) community residential care; and 
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1 (5) provide— 

2 (A) cost and quality comparison analyses 

3 of all the different levels of care; 

4 (B) detailed information about geographic 

5 distribution of services and gaps in care; and 

6 (C) specific plans for working with Medi7 care, Medicaid, and private insurance compa8 nies to expand care.

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