The 36-year-old Afghanistan war veteran can’t be left alone with his kids because his hallucinations and outbursts make him a danger to himself and others. He must be handed his medications, or he’ll forget to take them. He doesn’t drive or work. Or manage his finances, having once spent thousands of dollars in a wild shopping spree while experiencing mania.
Still, the former Army sergeant has not been hospitalized for mental health issues in nearly five years — an achievement he and his wife attribute to her providing around-the-clock care for him, supported by the Department of Veterans Affairs‘ Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers.
In addition to providing health care coverage and community support, the program pays the veteran a stipend that allows the wife to care for him instead of hiring a home health aide.
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But in the past month, the couple, who live in South Carolina and requested anonymity so they could speak freely about their situation due to concerns about retaliation from their VA caseworkers, learned they no longer qualify for the benefit.
They are not alone. With the VA conducting reviews to ensure that participants meet new eligibility requirements introduced last year, as many as 6,000 people may find out this month they no longer will receive the caretaker support some have relied upon for years as they manage the residual wounds of war that continue to shape their lives.
VA officials say the new eligibility rules were introduced to comply with a 2018 law that expanded the program to severely injured veterans of previous wars whose loved ones have cared for them for years without any compensation. By changing the eligibility requirements while expanding the groups of veterans who could apply, the idea was that veterans from past conflicts could get the help they needed without radically increasing the cost of the program.
They said the program now provides consistency and will be fair and equitable for all.
Cost played a role, as well. During a hearing on the issue in 2018, then-VA Secretary Dr. David Shulkin said expansion under the existing rules would add 180,000 caregivers and require $2.8 billion over the first five years — a change he said he could not support.
Shulkin said he favored expanding the program to only the most severely injured or incapacitated veterans — a move that would add roughly 40,000 caregivers and ultimately was approved.
But current enrollees and advocates believe it is unfair that legacy participants must meet the new criteria. And, they say, the review process has been inconsistent and fraught with error.
They charge that the reviewers have largely ignored the needs of those with traumatic brain injuries and mental health issues — the “invisible wounds” of war.
“The person who did our assessment completely skipped the section regarding supervision, protection and instruction,” said the wife, referring to an eligibility requirement that participating veterans must have an impairment that affects their ability to maintain their personal safety. “It is really hard for me to think it was not done on purpose.”
That suspicion is common among the families being told they are no longer eligible.
“I feel like there was no consideration of my son’s situation,” said a mother who has served as her son’s caregiver for eight years.
The mom, who requested anonymity to protect her son, learned she was dismissed from the program just weeks after her son was hospitalized for psychosis.
“I told him I plan to appeal, but he tells me not to because ‘so many other veterans are more hurt than me,'” she said.
The Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers, also referred to as the Family Caregiver Program, was introduced in 2011 for post-9/11 veterans seriously injured in the line of duty, beginning with 200 caregivers who received health care, mental health services,…
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