The Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act, currently winding its way through Congress, would likely increase access to hospice and palliative care for veterans, if enacted.

The omnibus veterans’ benefits reform bill contains two provisions in particular that could influence hospice and palliative care utilization. First, it contains language from Gerald’s Law, as well as clauses that would allow veterans to use their benefits to enter PACE programs.

The bill recently passed the U.S. House of Representatives and now will go to the Senate. A reasonable chance exists that the bill will be approved by both chambers this year, according to Madison Summers, manager of public affairs for the National Alliance for Care at Home.

“It seems like there’s a very good chance for this to move through the Senate by end of year. Of course, you know a lot remains to be seen as sort of all the pieces fall into place, but it’s been largely supported,” Summers told Hospice News. “So from the Senate side, from what we’re hearing, I don’t think we’ll see a lot of pushback.”

Rep. Jack Bergman (R-Michigan) and Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas) co-sponsored the original Gerald’s Law bill, which would close a hospice-related loophole in veterans’ benefits.

When eligible veterans die, many of their families are entitled to a financial benefit from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to defray some of the costs of funerals and cremation or burial. However, when a veteran transitions from a VA facility to hospice, they lose access to that benefit. This is even the case when hospice care is provided by the VA itself.

Gerald’s Law would institute those benefits for those veterans who die in hospice. The National Alliance for Care at Home and the National Coalition for Hospice and Palliative Care endorsed the legislation.

The bill would also allow veterans to seek PACE services. To facilitate this, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) would form coordinated partnerships with PACE providers in communities nationwide.

This in turn would allow veterans greater access to palliative care, which is typically a core element of PACE programs, according to Dr. Richard Feifer, chief medical officer at the PACE company InnovAge. The bill also contains provisions designed to enhance care coordination between the VA and PACE providers in communities nationwide.

“If and when it’s enacted, veterans will have access to PACE programs all around the country, and, today, there’s variability to whether veterans have access to PACE programs through their VA benefits. That needs to change,” Feifer told Hospice News. “Palliative care is foundational to geriatric care, and geriatric care is what PACE is all about. So by enrolling in pace, veterans will have access to fully integrated palliative care within a highly integrated, highly coordinated primary care system.”