VA Caregivers Program

[Saturation]

May be of interest to a few....

"Currently, VA provides general caregiver services such as education and assistance, counseling, support groups, respite care, home-based primary care and telehealth to support caregivers. On May 5, 2010, President Obama signed the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010, which expanded services for primary, family and general caregivers of veterans."

This has not been funded so many of the items below are not yet available but hopefully will be soon:

"Primary caregivers of veterans that served after Sept. 11, 2001, who were seriously injured in the line of duty would be provided a caregiver stipend, mental health services, respite care and health-care coverage.
Family caregivers of veterans that served after Sept. 11, 2001, would be provided with instruction, training, travel, lodging, per diem for training, respite care and counseling.
General caregivers for veterans of all eras would be provided in-person education, interactive website, telehealth training, counseling, respite care and information on all available services.
Following passage of the law, VA developed a Caregiver Implementation Committee and the final plan is currently under review by the Office of Management and Budget. "

The hotline is now open effective 2/2/11 for Caregivers- basically the hotline will connect the caller with the local coordinator and make available a ListServe for Caregivers to have updates on the bill's implementation, details about the bill (most burning questions thus far--- how much will the stipend be and will it be retroactive- which can't be answered yet) and emails of tips from/to other caregivers.

The National Caregiver Support Line will be open Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. and Saturday 10:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The National Caregiver Support Line Toll-Free number is 1-855-260-3274.

[alright4u]

Originally Posted by Saturation

May be of interest to a few....

"Currently, VA provides general caregiver services such as education and assistance, counseling, support groups, respite care, home-based primary care and telehealth to support caregivers. On May 5, 2010, President Obama signed the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010, which expanded services for primary, family and general caregivers of veterans."

This has not been funded so many of the items below are not yet available but hopefully will be soon:

"Primary caregivers of veterans that served after Sept. 11, 2001, who were seriously injured in the line of duty would be provided a caregiver stipend, mental health services, respite care and health-care coverage.
Family caregivers of veterans that served after Sept. 11, 2001, would be provided with instruction, training, travel, lodging, per diem for training, respite care and counseling.
General caregivers for veterans of all eras would be provided in-person education, interactive website, telehealth training, counseling, respite care and information on all available services.
Following passage of the law, VA developed a Caregiver Implementation Committee and the final plan is currently under review by the Office of Management and Budget. "

The hotline is now open effective 2/2/11 for Caregivers- basically the hotline will connect the caller with the local coordinator and make available a ListServe for Caregivers to have updates on the bill's implementation, details about the bill (most burning questions thus far--- how much will the stipend be and will it be retroactive- which can't be answered yet) and emails of tips from/to other caregivers.

The National Caregiver Support Line will be open Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. and Saturday 10:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The National Caregiver Support Line Toll-Free number is 1-855-260-3274.

I am going to research this. What fries my fanny is any preference or extra bennie based on which war or wars one was in. War is war.

[Saturation]

You are absolutely right- war is war.

I can't say I know the rationale but am guessing the survivor rate for this war is driving the difference. Further I believe that there is less interest in placing a 'seriously injured' (the bill's term) Veteran in a nursing home than previously. That coupled with the hallmark injuries from this war- specifically the 'seriously injured' TBI and/or amputee(s).