Murray slams VA for limiting caregiver benefits
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Feb 10, 2011 10:25:39 EST
Many caregivers of severely disabled veterans will be unnecessarily excluded from a new benefits and support program because of limitations proposed by the Obama administration, the new chairwoman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee says.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., appointed chairwoman just two weeks ago, is launching a high-profile fight with the Veterans Affairs Department over eligibility rules for benefits for the caregivers of severely injured Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. When Congress passed the benefits law last year, lawmakers believed about 3,500 families would be helped. But Murray said Wednesday VA’s criteria for determining who is eligible would “severely limit” who is covered.
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“I’m not going to let VA minimize the impact of the bill that we passed,” Murray said in a statement.
At issue is a proposed rule that would provide benefits and support only in cases where severely disabled veterans needs a minimum of six months of continuous support from a caregiver or would otherwise have to be hospitalized because of their medical condition, inability to care for themselves or personal safety. What the caregiver is doing cannot duplicate services provided by another entity.
VA officials said the idea is to narrow eligibility to veterans who are “most at need” and to a population that can be supported.
Murray said that is “simply not good enough.” VA intends “to limit this benefit to an even smaller group of caregivers than intended by Congress, which is unacceptable,” she said.
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Murray slams VA for limiting caregiver benefits
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