I appreciate the opportunity to testify before the Subcommittee today on H.R. 4505.

There are 137 State Veterans Homes located in all 50 States and in Puerto Rico that provide hospital and skilled nursing care to approximately 28,500 veterans and dependents.  State Veterans Homes are institutions that many of our veterans and their dependents have relied upon for nearly 150 years.

Gold Star Parents are parents who have lost a son or daughter who died while serving our country in the military.  However, to be eligible for admission to a State Veterans’ Home, a Gold Star Parent must have lost all of his or her children while in military service.  State Veterans’ Homes must deny admission to a Gold Star Parent if they have any surviving children.

H.R. 4505 would allow State Veterans Homes to admit the parents of service-members who died while serving our nation to VA Nursing Homes.   My legislation would permit admission into a State Veterans’ Home to any parent who lost at least one son or daughter while serving our nation to protect our freedoms and way of life. 

Those we ask to fight and die in our wars should have the assurance that their families will be cared for by their country. 

Losing a child to war is a stunning and life altering event, which is why I am pushing for this bipartisan legislation to become law in the coming weeks.

Additionally, the financial impact to the federal government will be minimal, since the VA does not pay a per diem to state homes for Gold Star Parents.  In our conversations with state officials, they expect that the impact to state budgets would be minimal as well. 

The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2010 required the VA to conduct a feasibility study to identify the potential impact of providing State Veterans’ Home care to Gold Star Parents.  The VA determined that such feasibility study would be useless because there would be no additional cost to the VA by providing this service.

The bill is supported by the American Legion and the National Association of State Veterans Homes, and I know of no opposition.

In closing, I appreciate your consideration of this bill and ask for your support to ensure that Gold Star Parents are able to receive the support they need.  I look forward to answering any questions you might have about my bill. 

Again, thank you for holding this hearing and allowing me to testify. 

Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
Report to Congress on State Home Care

Issue: The Joint Explanatory Statement accompanying Public Law 111-117, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies Appropriation Act, 2010, urges the Department to undertake a feasibility study to identify any potential impacts of permitting State Home Care facilities to provide services to non-Veterans who have had a child die while serving in the Armed Forces, as long as such services are not denied to a qualified Veteran seeking those services. The Department is directed to report back to the Committees on Appropriations of both Houses of Congress within 90 days of enactment of this Act on what steps, if any, have been taken to undertake the feasibility study and any findings, should the study be completed.

Background Information:

General eligibility requirements for admission to a State Veterans Home: Veterans in need of skilled nursing care and who have a general honorable military discharge are given admission priority. Spouses, surviving spouses, and Gold Star parents in need of skilled nursing care are also eligible for admission, if allowed by state policy. VA is prohibited by law from exercising any supervision or control over the operation of a State Veterans Home, including setting admission criteria. Admission requirements are determined exclusively by the state. The states also establish and manage operating procedures, personnel practices, and other operational matters.

Discussion:

• VA Medical Centers of jurisdiction and State Veteran Homes must comply· with the 75 percent Veteran residency rule (title 38 U.S.C. 8131-8137), i.e., State Homes are required to maintain an occupancy rate of 75 percent Veterans to be eligible for VA per diem payments.
• Admission requirements for State Veterans Homes are determined exclusively by the state.
• Current authority does not allow VA per diem payments for services provided in a State Veterans Home to Gold Star parents or any other non-Veteran residents.
• The Veterans Health Administration believes it is feasible to permit State Home Care facilities to provide services to non-Veterans who have had a child die while serving in the Armed Forces, as long as such services are not denied to qualified Veterans seeking those services. Legislative authority would need to be enacted.
• There would likely be some financial impact on the states to support non-Veterans in State Veterans Homes.

Recommendation:

A feasibility study is not required because there would be no additional cost to VA by permitting State Home Care facilities to provide services to non-Veterans who have had a child die while serving in the Armed Forces.

Veterans Health Administration
April 2010

The American Legion
Washington, DC.
January 26, 2010

Honorable Mac Thornberry
U.S. House of Representatives
2209 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC  20515-4313

The American Legion fully supports your proposed legislation to enable State Veterans' Homes to furnish nursing home care to parents any of whose children died while serving in the Armed Forces of the United States. Such parents are respectfully referred to as Gold Star parents.

Currently, Gold Star parents may receive care in a State Veterans' Home only if they have lost all of their children in service to the country. The loss of a single service member brings much grief and sadness to a grateful nation. The American Legion believes this benefit was granted with good intention, but unrealistic expectations of personal sacrifice. As a nation at war, to maintain such a standard for an earned benefit is unacceptable. The pain of loss for parents of an only child is just as unbearable as the loss for parents with more than one child.

Thank you Representative Thornberry for offering legislation that would extend the heartfelt gratitude of a grieving nation to parents of a fallen hero. The American Legion fully supports your proposed legislation to address this injustice. The American Legion appreciates your continued leadership in addressing the issues that are important to veterans, members of the Armed Forces, and their families.

Sincerely,

Steve Robertson
Director, National Legislative Commission

Texas General Land Office
Austin, TX.
January 26, 2010

Honorable Mac Thornberry
U. S. House of Representatives, District 13
2209 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C.  20515-4313

Dear Congressman Thornberry:

I am writing you to express my complete support of S.1450, a bill to allow the parents of service-members who died while serving the nation access to VA Nursing Homes.  Currently, an individual is allowed admission into a State Veterans Home if the individual is an eligible veteran, the spouse of an eligible veteran, or a Gold Star parent.  The problem that arises is the way the term “Gold Star parent” is currently defined in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) administered by the VA.   According to the CFR, Gold Star parents are eligible for admission to State VA Nursing Homes if they have lost all of their children who were serving our country on active duty military service.  This legislation would rectify this and permit admission into a State VA Nursing Home to any parent that lost at least one son or daughter, while fighting to protect our freedoms and way of life. 

As chairman of the Texas Veterans Land Board, I oversee our Texas State Veteran Nursing Home program where we provide skilled nursing care to over 1,000 Texas veterans and their family members in one of our seven facilities.  As most people are aware, State Veterans Homes were founded for wounded and homeless veterans following the American Civil War and have become institutions that many of our veterans and their dependents have come to rely on for nearly 150 years.  Currently there are 137 State Veterans Homes located in all 50 States and in Puerto Rico that on a daily basis provide hospital, skilled nursing, rehabilitation, long-term, dementia and Alzheimer’s, domiciliary, respite, end of life, and adult day health care, to approximately 28,500 veterans and dependents. 

I believe that it is only fair that the parents who lost a son or daughter in military service have access to these first class facilities.  This legislation is strongly supported by the National Association of State Veterans Homes.   

Please join me in supporting our parents who have given more than we as a nation could ever ask of them by changing the definition of a Gold Star Parent.

If you have any additional questions, please contact my federal liaison Jim Darwin at 512-463-2623 or email at jim.darwin@glo.state.tx.us. 

Sincerely,

JERRY PATTERSON, Commissioner
Texas General Land Office

National Association of State Veterans Homes

RESOLUTION 2010 - 2

SUPPORT FOR ADMISSION TO STATE VETERANS HOMES OF ANY PARENT WHOSE CHILD PERISHED WHILE SERVING ON ACTIVE DUTY IN THE ARMED FORCES OF THE UNITED STATES

WHEREAS, State Veterans Homes were founded for soldiers and sailors following the American Civil War, and have ably served veterans and some of their immediate dependents and survivors for nearly 150 years; and

WHEREAS, currently there are 140 State Veterans Homes in all States and in Puerto Rico, on a daily basis providing hospital, skilled nursing, skilled rehabilitation, long-term care, dementia and Alzheimer’s care, domiciliary care, respite care, end of life care, and Adult Day Health Care to 28,500 veterans and dependents; and

WHEREAS, Title 38, United States Code, authorizes State Veterans Homes to care for non-veteran residents, but only to the extent that non-veteran residents constitute no more than twenty-five percent of bed capacity at Such State Veterans Homes; and

WHEREAS, Title 38, Code of Federal Regulations, defines eligible non-veteran residents of State Veterans Homes as immediate dependents and survivors of veterans with antecedent residence in State Veterans Homes, and parents, all of whose children died while serving in active military service to the United States; and

WHEREAS, recognizing the contemporary trend of the all-volunteer military force, the wide array of career paths available to American citizens, and modern asymmetrical wars and military conflicts that require both periodic and episodic deployments to combat engagements throughout the world, a post-World War II policy that requires all of a parent’s children to have perished in war as a precondition of eligible residence of a parent in a State Veterans Home under Title 38, United States Code, as interpreted in its Code of Federal Regulations, is unwarranted and exhibits an exclusionary intent toward parents who have suffered irreparable loss of a child, or children, who served their Nation in uniform.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the National Association of State Veterans Homes (NASVH) supports an amendment to Title 38, Code of Federal Regulations, or in absence of such revision, amendment to Title 38, United States Code, to authorize admission to State Veterans Homes of any parent whose child perished in active military service to the United States; and fully supports the legislative objectives of the National Association of State Veterans Homes (NASVH) to receive from VA a per diem payment that equals 50 percent of the national average cost of providing care in a State Veterans Home.

COLLEEN RUNDELL, M.S., LNHA
President
National Association of State Veterans Homes

Dated this _____ day of ___________, 2010