The Department of Veterans Affairs plans to extend benefits through 2028 to veteran caregivers who faced removal from a VA program that provides them health care and compensation.
The VA announced Thursday that ‘legacy’ participants of the Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers — those who had applied before and were accepted after Oct. 1, 2020 and those who were enrolled before that date — will remain in the program through Sept. 30, 2028.
VA officials had said in May that it planned to extend the deadline; Thursday’s announcement cemented the plan.
“Legacy caregivers have helped shape VA’s Caregiver Support Program for many years,” VA Secretary Doug Collins said in a statement. “This decision underscores VA’s commitment to veterans and caregivers across the nation and will help provide consistency and stability to nearly 15,000 legacy participants for years to come.”
The PCAFC provides health care and monthly stipends to designated caregivers of combat veterans with a severe service-connected injury or illness. Originally established to provide benefits for post-9/11 veteran families, it was expanded in 2018 to include combat veterans from all eras.
To cover the cost of the expansion, the VA restricted eligibility, focusing largely on a veteran’s ability to accomplish daily tasks. But the new program qualifications, which didn’t take into account a veteran’s need for safety or continuous supervision, were found to likely eliminate 90% of participating families, causing the VA to halt implementation of the new criteria while it studied the issue.
In May, Steve Schwab, CEO of the Elizabeth Dole Foundation, said caregivers had expressed “fear and anxiety” regarding a pending October 2025 deadline for the VA to reconsider their cases.
“While we know this is not the final step in a very long journey, we commend Secretary Collins and his team for taking this action to give these families financial breathing room,” Schwab said of the decision to extend through 2028.
The change will give the VA time to finalize its policies regarding the process and provide benefits to the affected group.
In a letter to Collins on Sept. 3, seven veterans organizations, including the Quality of Life Foundation, the Elizabeth Dole Foundation, the National Defense Committee, the National Veterans Legal Services Program, the Independence Fund, Veteran Caregiver-Wise Health and Veteran Warriors asked the VA to make a formal announcement regarding its plans to extend the Sept. 30, 2025, deadline.
“This uncertainty is generating significant anxiety among Legacy participants, and it is limiting our ability as stakeholder organizations to provide them with reassurance or guidance,” they wrote.
The VA announced the postponement in a Sept. 29 Federal Register notice.
The caregiver program provides respite services, health care and stipends ranging from roughly $1,800 to about $3,000 per month to designated family members or friends for the care they provide to a veteran in lieu of a home health aide.
Nearly 90,000 veterans were enrolled in either the PCAFC program or the VA’s Program of General Caregiver Support Services as of December 2024. The latter program provides counseling, support, coaching and other services to veteran caregivers.
The PCAFC provides health care for caregivers through the VA’s Civilian Health and Medical Program, travel expenses, respite services and stipends ranging from roughly $1,800 to about $3,000 per month.
Patricia Kime is a senior writer covering military and veterans health care, medicine and personnel issues.
Read the full article here
