S 1065 IS: Heroes at Home Act of 2007

I was over at THOMAS searching around for things that might have some impact on Family Caregivers and came across S 1065 IS: Heroes at Home Act of 2007. This bill was introduced by Ms. Clinton and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.

Basically what the bill is looking to achieve is:

To improve the diagnosis and treatment of traumatic brain injury in members and former members of the Armed Forces, to review and expand telehealth and telemental health programs of the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.

A section that caught my attention was the following:

(e) Eligibility for Compensation- A family caregiver of a veteran or member of the Armed Forces who receives certification as a personal care attendant under this section shall be eligible for compensation from the Department of Veterans Affairs for care provided to such veteran or member.

and followed soon after by:

(g) Construction- Nothing in this section shall be construed to require or permit the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to deny reimbursement for health care services provided to a veteran with a brain injury to a personal care attendant who is not a family member of such veteran.

Unless I am reading this wrong, then this bill would allow for family caregivers of veterans or members of the armed services to be compensated by the Department of Veterans Affairs for the care that they provide. This would be a major step forward for caregivers, as it would help to establish that providing care to another is a commitment that should not be divided by relationship to the care recipient.

Family caregivers should be eligible for the same compensation for the care they provide as non-family caregivers provided they have the proper skills and training nd the care recipient has proven medical need of a caregiver.