VETERANS.HOUSE.GOV
H.R. 8371: The Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century
Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act
Courtesy of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Majority Staff
BACKGROUND:
The Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act would ensure
that the men and women who have served have access to the modern, good care and services they have
earned. This bill includes a number of bipartisan proposals that would enhance and reform the delivery of
services at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) by ultimately putting all veterans, their families, and
their survivors – not bureaucracy – first.
HIGHLIGHTS:
- Includes the House passed VET-TEC Authorization Act (H.R. 1669) which would fully fund the VA VETTEC educational assistance program to expand high tech career opportunities for veterans and transitioning servicemembers. This program has an 84% graduation rate and an average starting salary
of over $66,000. - Includes the House passed Elizabeth Dole Home Care Act (H.R. 542) which would expand access to
Home- and Community-Based Services at every VA medical center, which would allow severely ill and
aging veterans the dignity of receiving their care at home rather than in institutions. - Includes the Veterans Care Improvement Act (H.R. 3520) which would improve the timeliness and
quality of care and services delivered to veterans under community care by improving the rate at which
community care providers return medical records to the VA. This would streamline administrative
processes to ensure veterans receive timely and high-quality care. It would also ensure that VA provides
veterans with more information and transparency regarding their eligibility for community care. - Includes the House passed HOME Act (H.R. 3848) which would raise the Grant and Per-Diem rate for
veteran homelessness providers who partner with VA and provide rideshares to veterans for medical,
housing, and employment appointments and ensure veterans can get the resources they need to be
lifted out of homelessness. - Includes the Veterans Education Assistance and Improvement Act (H.R. 3874) which would cut through
red tape for the GI Bill and allow student veterans to use their benefits that best meet their needs. - Includes the Servicemember Employment Protection Act (H.R. 3943) which would modernize USERRA
protections and increase accountability at the Department of Labor so that deployed National Guard
and Reservists have the proper employment protections in place back when they return home. - Includes the House passed COPE Act (H.R. 3581) which would recognize the mental strain often
experienced by caregivers of certain veterans by providing community mental health grants to help
alleviate caregiver’s concerns about stigma. - Includes Gerald’s Law Act (H.R. 234), which would allow survivors of certain veterans who choose to die
at home or while in receipt of VA hospice care, to receive a certain burial and funeral allowance.
Currently, this allowance is provided to survivors of those veterans who passed away at a VA facility. - Includes the Commitment to Veteran Support and Outreach Act (H.R. 984), which would authorize VA to
provide grants to state and Indian Tribes to support county Veteran Service Organizations (VSOs) and
tribal VSOs to provide improved outreach and assistance to underserved, rural, and Native American
veterans regarding VA benefits. - Includes the Modernization of VA Disability Benefits Questionnaires Act (H.R. 4461), which would
update IT systems and processes to ensure that disability examination reports completed by contracted
disability examiners are standardized and machine-readable, which would improve efficiency in VA’s
processing of disability compensation claims for veterans. - Includes the VA Office of Inspector General Training Act (H.R. 2733) which would require all new VA
employees to receive training on reporting wrongdoing and cooperating with the VA Inspector General. - Includes the VA Medical Center Security Report Act of 2023 (H.R. 3504) which would require VA to
conduct a survey of each of their facilities on security weaknesses and the status of their police force as
well as provide a report on the results of these surveys to Congress.
- *NOTE: Each of these bills has gone through some form of regular order and the entire package is fully
offset and would not add to the deficit. - THE MESSAGE:
- The Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act delivers on
the promise House Republicans have made to create a modern, efficient VA for today and tomorrow’s
veteran community. - The Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act expands
economic opportunity for veterans, gives veterans a choice in where they choose to live out their
sunset years or receive healthcare, modernizes the disability benefits claims process, and holds VA
accountable to the taxpayers and veterans they serve. - The Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act effectively
addresses rising crime in major cities by forcing VA to report to Congress on security weaknesses to
ensure our nation’s heroes are safe every time they visit VA.