Sec. 7. Improvements relating to Home Maker and Home Health Aide program
534 words·~2 min read·
/bill/117/hr/6823/ih/section-7A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
The Secretary shall carry out a pilot program under which the Secretary shall provide home maker and home health aide services to veterans who reside in communities with a shortage of home health aides. The Secretary shall select 10 geographic locations in which the Secretary determines there is a shortage of home health aides at which to carry out the pilot program under paragraph (1). In carrying out the pilot program under paragraph (1), the Secretary may hire nursing assistants as new employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs, or reassign nursing assistants who are existing employees of the Department, to provide to veterans in-home care services (including basic tasks authorized by the State certification of the nursing assistant) under the pilot program, in lieu of or in addition to the provision of such services through non-Department home health aides.
Nursing assistants hired or reassigned under subparagraph
(A)may provide services to a veteran under the pilot program under paragraph
(1)while serving as part of a health care team for the veteran under the Home Based Primary Care program. The pilot program under paragraph
(1)shall be for a duration of three years. Not later than one year after the date on which the Secretary determines the pilot program under paragraph
(1)has terminated, the Secretary shall submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Senate a report on the result of the pilot program. Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Senate a report containing, with respect to the period beginning in fiscal year 2011 and ending in fiscal year 2022, the following: An identification of the amount of funds that were included in a budget of the Department of Veterans Affairs during such period for the provision of in-home care to veterans under the Home Maker and Home Health Aide program but were not expended for such provision, disaggregated by medical center of the Department for which such unexpended funds were budgeted. An identification of the number of veterans for whom, during such period, the hours during which a home health aide was authorized to provide services to the veteran under the Home Maker and Home Health Aide program were reduced for a reason other than a change in the health care needs of the veteran, and a detailed description of the reasons why any such reductions may have occurred. Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue updated guidance for the Home Maker and Home Health Aide program. Such updated guidance shall include the following: A process for the transition of veterans from the Home Maker and Home Health Aide program to other covered programs. A requirement for the directors of the medical facilities of the Department to complete such process whenever a veteran with care needs has been denied services from home health agencies under the Home Maker and Home Health Aide program as a result of the clinical needs or behavioral issues of the veteran.