Pulaski Times

A legislative package aimed at improving veterans' caregiving programs, mental health support, and education benefits was signed into law by President Biden in early January. The Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act includes provisions advocated by U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR), a senior member of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee.

Boozman's efforts contributed to the bill providing the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) with enhanced tools for recruiting qualified medical personnel, supporting training for VA clinicians, ensuring better oversight, evaluating VA benefits' relationship with suicide outcomes, and guaranteeing burial benefits for veterans receiving hospice care outside VA facilities.

"We must constantly assess and update the programs veterans and their loved ones rely on while ensuring the VA is providing the support they need," Boozman stated. "Enacting policies to attract and keep top medical providers caring for them...is a significant bipartisan achievement."

The legislation incorporates sections from various acts including the VA Clinician Appreciation, Recruitment, Education, Expansion, and Retention Support (CAREERS) Act. This act aims to modernize the VA’s pay system for clinicians, increase workforce data reporting requirements, update pay stipulations to include optometrists, authorize waivers on pay limitations for critical healthcare personnel recruitment or retention, and provide compensation flexibility for specified professionals.

Other measures included are from the Veterans Affairs Medical Center Absence and Notification Timeline (VACANT) Act which limits detailing of medical center directors within VA positions and requires filling vacant director positions within 180 days. The Not Just a Number Act mandates that the VA examine veterans' benefits usage in its annual suicide prevention report to evaluate their impact on preventing suicides.

Additionally, Gerald’s Law Act expands burial benefits eligibility to terminally ill veterans who die in non-VA facilities while receiving hospice care. The VA OIG Training Act of 2023 provides training to employees on reporting waste, fraud, and abuse in coordination with the Office of Inspector General.