Assistance for caregivers of those injured in line of duty after 9/11

Good news for some family caregivers of veterans. A few days ago the VA Watchdog announced Senate Passes Family Caregiver Bill to Help Wounded Veterans and Their Families -- Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs Press Release from VA Watchdog dot Org - 04-22-2010

You can read the actual bill that was passed the Caregivers
and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010, which is an act to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide assistance to caregivers of veterans, to improve the provision of health care to veterans, and for other purposes.

As I said, it will help some family caregivers of veteran's, with limitations as to what qualifies a veteran for the purposes of the bill.

Specifically:

‘‘(2) For purposes of this subsection, an eligible veteran is
any individual who—

• ‘‘(A) is a veteran or member of the Armed Forces undergoing medical discharge from the Armed Forces;
• ‘‘(B) has a serious injury (including traumatic brain injury, psychological trauma, or other mental disorder) incurred or aggravated in the line of duty in the active military, naval, or air service on or after September 11, 2001; and
• ‘‘(C) is in need of personal care services because of—
         ‘‘(i) an inability to perform one or more activities of daily living;
         ‘‘(ii) a need for supervision or protection based on symptoms or residuals of neurological or other impairment or injury; or
         ‘‘(iii) such other matters as the Secretary considers appropriate.

So, to qualify for assistance, the caregiver needs to be the caregiver of a veteran who incurred serious injury, or had such an injury aggravated, in the line of active duty on or after September 11, 2001.