Rep. Mike Bost, R.-Ill., said the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act is a comprehensive package that bundles more than 60 bills that expand and improve benefits. Bost is chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)
WASHINGTON — The Republican leaders of the House and Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committees introduced a sweeping legislative package Thursday to fast-track adoption of the Major Richard Star Act and dozens of other bills for veterans benefits that have been delayed or stalled in Congress over cost concerns.
Rep. Mike Bost, R.-Ill., and Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., described the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act as a comprehensive package that bundles more than 60 bills to expand and improve benefits and services to veterans.
The goal is to bring the legislation directly to the floor of each chamber for a vote, since most of the bills already have been reviewed individually in committee, according to the House VA Committee.
“My message to the millions of men and women who have served, their families, and their survivors is simple: You have our commitment that this Republican majority will continue to lead from the front and deliver results on the issues that matter to you and your families. Let’s get it done,” Bost said, when the bill was formally introduced.
But the 554-page legislation has encountered strong pushback from some Democratic lawmakers and major veterans groups that oppose a funding mechanism to cut future disability payments for tinnitus and sleep apnea designed to offset spending on the new benefits.
Disabled American Veterans, Veterans of Foreign Wars and Common Defense condemned the legislation for proposing to cut future benefits by as much as $57 billion over 10 years for an estimated 1.5 million veterans.
“Veterans earned these benefits. Tinnitus from gunfire. Sleep apnea from deployments that never let you rest. They are the documented cost of service,” said Naveed Shah, political director of Common Defense.
Carol Whitmore, VFW national commander, said that the organization maintains that benefits are an earned obligation that should not be financed with “offsets, fee increases or reductions” that place additional burdens on veterans.
Veterans with current disability ratings for tinnitus and sleep apnea would not be impacted by the legislation, according to the House and Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committees.
The legislation would affect only future claims or existing conditions that require evaluations, the committees said.
Coleman Nee, the DAV national commander, said the proposal would “effectively stop” future compensation on claims for service-connected tinnitus and “dramatically reduce” the compensation for service-connected sleep apnea for veterans using a breathing device called a CPAP.
“These changes would apply to all new claims as well as any reassessments or reevaluations of existing claims,” he said.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, opposed a funding mechanism in the legislation to cut future disability payments for tinnitus and sleep apnea to offset spending on the new benefits. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, warned that the proposal “would have a staggeringly negative impact on future veterans.”
The package would codify a 2022 proposal by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs to revise the way sleep apnea and tinnitus are reviewed, according to the House VA committee.
Blumenthal, however, said the original plan was to take savings from reducing tinnitus and sleep apnea compensation to fund an expansion of mental health benefits.
“Using this offset for Richard Star and other bills limits VA’s ability to expand mental health benefits” for an estimated 1.8 million disabled veterans with diagnosed mental health conditions, Blumenthal said.
But the Department of Veterans Affairs indicated this week that it has no immediate plans to pursue the initiative.
“No changes are planned or imminent. VA is still reviewing the proposed rule, which was introduced by the Biden Administration in 2022. VA received significant public comment on the proposal, and it would need to undergo significant changes prior to being finalized,” said VA Press Secretary Quinn Slaven.
“VA learned of the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act last week and continues its discussions with Congress on the costs and impact of the bill’s various provisions. We look forward to continuing to support Congress in this regard,” Slaven said.
In addition to the Major Richard Star Act, the legislative package advances the Love Lives on Act, the Tap Expansion/Tap Promotion Act, the Veterans ACCESS Act, and the Sharri Briley and Eric Edmundson Veterans Benefits Expansion Act, among others.
“We now have a path forward to pass,” said Sen. Jerry Moran, D.-Kan., said about the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act, which proposed to fund the Major Richard Star Act and dozens of other bills. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)
“We now have a path forward to pass [the Major Richard Star Act], along with numerous other reforms for veterans and their families, Moran said.
The following are descriptions of some of the bills in the legislative package:
The Major Richard Star Act would enable combat-disabled veterans with less than 20 years of service to receive their full military pension plus VA disability compensation, concurrently. Veterans now lose a portion of their retirement pay based on the amount of disability compensation they collect.
The Sharri Briley and Eric Edmundson Veterans Benefits Expansion Act would increase support for veterans who are catastrophically injured and severely ill from service-connected medical conditions. It would increase compensation for their caregivers and survivors.
The Veterans ACCESS Act aims to improve a veteran’s ability to obtain private sector medical care outside the VA health system. The bill expands and protects veterans’ options to receive their health care from private, non-VA providers.
The Love Lives On Act ends the so-called “remarriage penalty” for widowed spouses, guaranteeing that they will continue to receive survivor and indemnity benefits.
The Tap Expansion/Tap Promotion Act would reform the military’s transition assistance program, also known as TAP. Veterans service organizations would be authorized to participate in TAP classes and counseling for service members who are preparing to leave the military.
