By MOAA Staff

Last year’s passage of expansive improvements to caregiver programs showed what Congress could accomplish with broad stakeholder support … but more work to help this often-overlooked part of the military community is needed, MOAA told lawmakers during a Feb. 26 hearing.

“These caregivers sacrifice their own futures – giving up financial security, career advancement, and personal well-being – to care for our nation’s heroes,” said Cmdr. René Campos, USN (Ret), MOAA’s senior director of Government Relations, in front of a joint hearing of the House and Senate Veterans’ Affairs committees. “Yet when caregiving ends … many are left struggling to rebuild their lives.”

Congress can address this issue by reintroducing and passing the Veteran Caregiver Reeducation, Reemployment, and Retirement Act, which would:

• Allow caregivers access to retirement planning, employment assistance, and bereavement counseling services.
• Reimburse caregivers for some professional licensure costs.
• Continue health care coverage for caregivers who are no longer eligible for VA’s Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers (PCAFC).
• Require a series of studies on barriers to caregiver employment, establishing a caregiver retirement plan, and other topics of concern.

“This act fulfills our nation’s promise to those who sacrificed so much,” Campos said.

[READ MORE: MOAA’s Written Testimony]

Ending the Wait

Campos also stressed the need to reform VA’s approach to caring for toxic-exposed veterans, which has resulted in an average delay of more than 30 years from a service-connected toxic exposure to receiving earned benefits.

A 2024 report by MOAA and Disabled American Veterans (DAV) proposed a series of improvements to this process, to include a new classification system for exposures and a clear outline of the steps needed to establish a presumptive condition, including timelines for VA decisions designed to speed the process. These improvements would continue the progress made on this issue via 2022’s MOAA-supported Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act.

MOAA’s testimony came alongside testimony from the Jewish War Veterans of the USA, Minority Veterans of America, National Association of County Veterans Services Officers, National Association of State Directors of Veterans Affairs, D’Aniello Institute for Veterans and Military Families, and Wounded Warrior Project. A previous panel Feb. 26 included representatives from the American Legion.

MOAA also addressed the need for Congress to:

• Pass full appropriations for the current fiscal year and to ensure VA funding was in place for FY 2026 by Oct. 1. “Predictable, sufficient funding is vital to sustaining VA’s health and benefits systems, meeting the growing needs of veterans and their families, and fulfilling congressional mandates without disruption,” Campos said.
  
  
• Improve transition services for veterans by reintroducing and passing the TAP Promotion Act, which would include veterans service organizations such as MOAA in the transition process.
  
  
• Continue its work to serve women, minority, and other underserved veteran populations, to include passing legislation designed to improve VA’s menopause care services and its work with military sexual trauma survivors.

Many of the MOAA-supported bills designed to address these priorities and others will be introduced in the coming weeks. Visit MOAA’s Legislative Action Center to see the latest legislation and learn how you can send messages of support to your lawmakers.