CHICAGO, IL--(ENEWSPF)--November 8, 2009. U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today called for passage of legislation to provide essential support services to family caregivers of severely disabled veterans. The Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2009 includes a Durbin-authored provision to fulfill the VA’s obligation to care for the nation’s wounded veterans by providing counseling, support, and a living stipend to their family caregivers. The legislation has been approved by the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee and is now awaiting a vote by the full Senate.
Since September 11, 2001, approximately 6,800 veterans and members of the Armed Forces have been injured and are living with disabilities severe enough to require near around the clock care. Many family members quit their jobs, lose their health insurance, and go through their savings as they stay home to care for their wounded soldiers. The toll on the caregivers often results in higher rates of depression and poor health as they struggle to care for these wounded warriors—an obligation that ultimately belongs to the government.
In describing the urgent need for the bill, Durbin noted the circumstances of Aimee Zmysly and her permanently disabled husband Corporal Yuriy Zmysly. Yuriy, a retired Marine, served two tours in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2004 and 2005 respectively. He suffered an anoxic brain injury after a routine appendectomy on his base in 2006, and Aimee dropped out of community college to become his caregiver. He goes to to Hines VA for physical therapy that will help him relearn how to eat, walk and speak. The Zmyslys currently live with Aimee’s parents in Oak Lawn and are struggling financially. They hope to one day purchase their own home.
“Families across America are caring each day for the 6,800 men and women who have come home from the Afghanistan and Iraq wars unable to perform daily functions or live independently,” said Durbin. “Many of these families are making enormous sacrifices to care for their loved ones. They are often forced to give up their full-time jobs, bear the cost of home care and even move across the country in search of treatment. It is time for our nation to step forward and provide support to the families of our brave men and women.”
“Many veterans treated with home-based care require less use of emergency care, institutionalization and veterans health system services," said Durbin. "If we invest in quality care at home, we not only enhance the quality of life for our veterans, but we can delay or forgo their need for more expensive institutional care.”
The legislation would require the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to establish a program available to a veteran, or member of the Armed Forces undergoing medical discharge, who was seriously disabled in the line of duty after September 11, 2001, if the disability requires institutional care or home-based services. The legislation would:
- Require training of family caregivers at government expense.
- Allow family caregivers to receive payment for the care they provide once they are trained. Provide for respite care for caregivers to take time off and take care of their own affairs. In addition, the VA would be required to study further options to improve the availability of respite care.
- Require VA to give caregivers access to medical and mental health services. The program would include an assessment of the caregiver’s needs and referral to relevant services available.
- Conduct a survey of family caregivers to better understand the value of services provided by this population and assess the overall performance of the pilot program.
In addition to caregiver support, the legislation would address a range of issues affecting veterans health care, including specific programs for rural veterans, women veterans, homeless veterans, and improvement of VA quality management.
Durbin also announced that separate legislation he authored was recently signed into law by President Obama. The legislation, included in the 2010 National Defense Authorization Act, provides additional compensation to catastrophically injured service members by increasing the maximum amount of monthly compensation.
The final legislation, now law, will:
- Provide additional compensation to catastrophically injured service members who have been injured in the line of duty, for their families to use in assisting with their care. Service members will receive this compensation as long as they continue to serve in the military.
- Provide that compensation for another 90 days after a service member separates or retires from the military, unless he or she dies, is no longer afflicted with the injury or illness, or starts to receive VA benefits. This provision will help seriously injured veterans from Afghanistan and Iraq, some of whom currently suffer a gap in benefits from the time they leave military service to the time the VA processes their benefits application.
- Increase the maximum amount of monthly compensation, consistent with the DoD/VA Wounded, Ill, and Injured Senior Oversight Committee and an April 2009 Center for Naval Analysis study on the economic impact faced by caregivers of seriously wounded, ill, and injured service members.
- Require the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to inform service members of the availability of the compensation by including information about it in written and online materials for service members and their families.
Source: durbin.senate.gov