[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 9]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 12524]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT ON H.R. 5641: TO AMEND TITLE 38, U.S.C., TO 
  AUTHORIZE THE SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS TO PROVIDE NURSING HOME 
     CARE FOR VETERANS WHO ARE UNABLE TO LIVE INDEPENDENTLY AT NON-
                    DEPARTMENT MEDICAL FOSTER HOMES

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. STEVE BUYER

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 30, 2010

  Mr. BUYER. Madam Speaker, today, I am introducing H.R. 5641, a bill 
to allow the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to enter into 
contracts with adult foster homes to provide life-long care to veterans 
unable to live independently.
  Adult foster homes are designed to provide non-institutional long-
term care to veterans who prefer a more personalized, familial setting 
than traditional nursing homes are able to provide.
  VA has been helping to place veterans in adult foster homes since 
2002 and over time more than 600 veterans in need have paid to receive 
such care. As we speak, 219 veterans are living in these special homes.
  The need for long term care is increasing as veterans from past 
conflicts get older, and it will continue to grow as wounded warriors 
return home from Iraq and Afghanistan with severe injuries that require 
life-long assistance. While nursing homes will always be a valuable 
tool for providing lasting care, for some the individualized, home-like 
atmosphere of an adult foster home is a much more attractive 
alternative than the prospect of moving into a traditional nursing 
home.
  The advantages of adult foster homes are clear. Veterans who opt for 
foster home care will move into a home owned or rented by their chosen 
foster home caregiver. The caregiver--who has passed a VA screening, 
federal background check, and home inspection and agreed to undergo 
annual training--resides with the veteran and provides them with 24-
hour supervision and personalized care. For as long as that veteran 
resides in the home, VA adult foster home coordinators and members of a 
VA Home Care Team will make both announced and unannounced visits at 
least three times every month to ensure the veteran is safe and the 
home and caregiver are in compliance with VA's high quality standards.
  Additionally, the Home Care Team will provide veterans with 
comprehensive, interdisciplinary primary care and provide the 
caregivers with supportive education and training.
  Many veterans who choose to reside in an adult foster home would 
otherwise be in need of nursing home care and would qualify for VA 
benefits to receive it. However, because VA is not authorized to 
provide veterans with assisted living benefits, these veterans must pay 
for the care they receive in adult foster homes out of their own 
pockets.
  Twenty four percent of veterans who have received care in a Medical 
Foster Home qualify for VA's highest priority group due to having 
disabilities rated 50% or more service connected or having otherwise 
been found unemployable due to service connected conditions. Given that 
many of the veterans who are benefitting from this individualized, non-
institutional care are disabled, afflicted with chronic disease, often 
elderly, and frequently 70% or more service connected, placing the 
entire cost burden for adult foster homes on their backs is no way to 
thank them for their valiant years in service. What's more, it creates 
an inequity of benefits between those who can afford to pay for such 
care and those that cannot.
  The legislation I am introducing today would give VA the authority to 
enter into a contract with a certified adult foster home to pay for 
care for certain veterans already eligible for VA paid nursing home 
care. By doing so, it would ensure more veterans have the option to 
choose a treatment setting that best suits their needs free of 
financial constraints.
  Our veterans in need of life-long care have earned the right to 
decide which long-term care environment would make them feel most at 
home. And, I encourage my colleagues to join with me in cosponsoring 
this legislation to make that decision easier.

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