I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 2148
To expand medical, employment, and other benefits for individuals serving
as family caregivers for certain veterans, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH14, 2025
Mr. M
ORELLE(for himself and Mr. CISCOMANI) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, and in addi-
tion to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subse-
quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To expand medical, employment, and other benefits for indi-
viduals serving as family caregivers for certain veterans,
and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veteran Caregiver Re-4
education, Reemployment, and Retirement Act’’. 5
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SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF PERIOD OF MEDICAL CARE COV-1
ERAGE FOR CAREGIVERS DESIGNATED AS 2
PRIMARY PROVIDERS OF PERSONAL CARE 3
SERVICES FOR VETERANS. 4
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Subsection (a)(4) of section 1781 5
of title 38, United States Code, is amended by inserting 6
before the comma at the end the following: ‘‘, including 7
during the 180-day period following the removal of such 8
designation unless the individual was dismissed from the 9
program under section 1720G(a) of this title for fraud, 10
abuse, or mistreatment’’. 11
(b) L
IMITATION ONELIGIBILITY FORCAREGIVERS 12
E
NTITLED TOMEDICARE.—Subsection (d) of such section 13
is amended— 14
(1) by redesignating paragraph (4) as para-15
graph (5); and 16
(2) by inserting after paragraph (3) the fol-17
lowing new paragraph: 18
‘‘(4) Notwithstanding any other provision of this sub-19
section, an individual is not eligible for medical care under 20
this section during the 180-day period specified under sub-21
section (a)(4) if the individual is entitled to hospital insur-22
ance benefits under part A of the medicare program dur-23
ing such period.’’. 24
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SEC. 3. EMPLOYMENT AND OTHER BENEFITS FOR CARE-1
GIVERS DESIGNATED AS PRIMARY PRO-2
VIDERS OF PERSONAL CARE SERVICES FOR 3
VETERANS. 4
(a) E
MPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE.—Section 1720G of 5
title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 6
end the following new subsection: 7
‘‘(e) E
MPLOYMENTASSISTANCE.—(1) The Secretary 8
shall provide to an individual designated as a primary pro-9
vider of personal care services under subsection (a)(7)(A) 10
employment assistance as follows: 11
‘‘(A) Reimbursement of fees associated with 12
certifications or relicensure necessary for such em-13
ployment. 14
‘‘(B) For purposes of gaining credit for con-15
tinuing professional education requirements, access 16
to training modules of the Department at no cost. 17
‘‘(C) In consultation with the Secretary of De-18
fense and the Secretary of Labor, access to employ-19
ment assistance under— 20
‘‘(i) the Military OneSource program of 21
the Department of Defense; 22
‘‘(ii) the Veterans’ Employment and Train-23
ing Service of the Department of Labor; and 24
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‘‘(iii) such programs of the Department of 1
Veterans Affairs as the Secretary of Veterans 2
Affairs determines appropriate. 3
‘‘(2) An individual described in paragraph (1) shall 4
have access to assistance described in such paragraph— 5
‘‘(A) while participating in the program estab-6
lished under subsection (a)(1); and 7
‘‘(B) during the 180-day period following the 8
date on which the individual is no longer partici-9
pating in such program unless the individual was 10
dismissed from the program for fraud, abuse, or 11
mistreatment. 12
‘‘(3) The maximum lifetime amount that may be re-13
imbursed for an individual under paragraph (1)(A) is 14
$1,000.’’. 15
(b) E
XPANSION OF AVAILABLESERVICES.—Sub-16
section (a)(3)(A)(ii) of such section is amended— 17
(1) in subclause (V), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and 18
inserting a semicolon; 19
(2) in subclause (VI)— 20
(A) in the matter preceding item (aa), by 21
inserting ‘‘or agreements’’ after ‘‘contracts’’; 22
(B) in item (aa), by inserting ‘‘, including 23
retirement planning services,’’ after ‘‘services’’; 24
and 25
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(C) in item (bb), by striking the period at 1
the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 2
(3) by adding at the end the following new sub-3
clause: 4
‘‘(VI) during the 180-day period following 5
the date on which the family caregiver is no 6
longer participating in the program required by 7
paragraph (1), unless the family caregiver was 8
dismissed from the program for fraud, abuse, 9
or mistreatment, such instruction, preparation, 10
training, and support as the Secretary considers 11
appropriate to assist the family caregiver in 12
transitioning away from caregiving.’’. 13
(c) A
SSISTANCERETURNING TOWORKFORCE.—Sub-14
clause (VI) of such subsection is further amended— 15
(1) in item (aa), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and insert-16
ing a semicolon; 17
(2) in item (bb), by striking the period at the 18
end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 19
(3) by adding at the end the following new 20
item: 21
‘‘(cc) assistance returning to the 22
workforce upon discharge or dismissal 23
from the program required by paragraph 24
(1) unless the family caregiver was dis-25
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missed from the program for fraud, abuse, 1
or mistreatment.’’. 2
(d) B
EREAVEMENT COUNSELING AND SUPPORT.— 3
Subsection (a)(3)(A)(i)(III) of such section is amended by 4
inserting before the semicolon the following: ‘‘, including 5
bereavement counseling and support following the death 6
of the eligible veteran’’. 7
(e) S
TUDY ONPROVISION OFRETURNSHIPPRO-8
GRAM.— 9
(1) I
N GENERAL.—Not later than one year 10
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec-11
retary of Veterans Affairs, in partnership with the 12
Secretary of Labor, shall complete a study on the 13
feasibility and advisability of conducting a 14
returnship program for individuals who are or were 15
designated as a primary provider of personal care 16
services under section 1720G(a)(7)(A) of title 38, 17
United States Code, to assist such individuals in re-18
turning to the workforce. 19
(2) R
EPORT.—Not later than 180 days after 20
completion of the study under paragraph (1), the 21
Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Vet-22
erans’ Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on 23
Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives a 24
report on the study. 25
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(f) STUDY ONINCORPORATINGFORMERCAREGIVERS 1
I
NTOWORKFORCE OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANSAF-2
FAIRS.— 3
(1) I
N GENERAL.—Not later than one year 4
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec-5
retary of Veterans Affairs shall complete a study on 6
barriers and incentives to hiring individuals who 7
were designated as a primary provider of personal 8
care services under section 1720G(a)(7)(A) of title 9
38, United States Code, at facilities of the Depart-10
ment of Veterans Affairs to address staffing needs. 11
(2) R
EPORT.—Not later than 180 days after 12
completion of the study under paragraph (1), the 13
Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Vet-14
erans’ Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on 15
Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives a 16
report on the study, which shall include— 17
(A) a plan for increasing employment op-18
portunities at facilities of the Department for 19
individuals who were designated as a primary 20
provider of personal care services under section 21
1720G(a)(7)(A) of title 38, United States Code; 22
and 23
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(B) such recommendations for legislative 1
or administrative action as the Secretary con-2
siders appropriate. 3
SEC. 4. COMPTROLLER GENERAL REPORT ON EFFORTS OF 4
DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS IN SUP-5
PORTING FAMILY CAREGIVERS 6
TRANSITIONING AWAY FROM CAREGIVING. 7
Not later than two years after the date of the enact-8
ment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United 9
States shall submit to Congress a report assessing the ef-10
forts of the Department of Veterans Affairs in supporting 11
individuals serving as family caregivers under section 12
1720G(a) of title 38, United States Code, in transitioning 13
away from caregiving, either by assisting those individuals 14
with retirement planning or returning to work. 15
SEC. 5. REPORT ON FEASIBILITY AND ADVISABILITY OF ES-16
TABLISHING A RETIREMENT PLAN OR RE-17
TIREMENT SAVINGS FOR FAMILY CARE-18
GIVERS OF CERTAIN VETERANS. 19
Not later than one year after the date of the enact-20
ment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, in con-21
sultation with the Secretary of the Treasury and the heads 22
of such other relevant entities as the Secretary of Veterans 23
Affairs determines necessary, shall submit to Congress a 24
report on the feasibility and advisability of, for individuals 25
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serving as family caregivers under section 1720G(a) of 1
title 38, United States Code— 2
(1) establishing an individual retirement plan 3
(as defined in section 7701(a)(37) of the Internal 4
Revenue Code of 1986) or similar retirement plan; 5
or 6
(2) permitting such individuals to join an al-7
ready established pathway to retirement savings. 8
Æ
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