From Service to Support: Why Congress Must Act for Veteran Caregivers

By U.S. Senator Jerry Moran and Steve Schwab

There are 14.3 million Americans who are voluntarily caring for a loved one who has served in our nation’s military. Many of them provide around-the-clock care for these veterans, including managing medications, treatments, appointments and activities of daily living, as well as providing mental health support.

Assisting veteran caregivers is in the best interest of service members, veterans and our nation. Most importantly, research shows that when veterans stay in their homes, their outcomes improve. In addition, family caregivers provide a service to our country by generating upwards of $400 billion in unpaid care, a financial burden that might otherwise be shouldered by taxpayers.

However, the responsibilities of caregiving pose a serious financial burden to many caregivers, forcing them to forgo careers and may hinder their ability to earn an income, maintain professional licensures, save for retirement and potentially return to the workforce altogether. Fortunately, Congress has the chance to ease this burden by passing the bipartisan Veteran Caregiver Reeducation, Reemployment, and Retirement Act.

This legislation would help transitioning caregivers reestablish financial independence by requiring VA to reimburse certain caregivers’ professional certification and re-licensure fees, granting caregivers access to existing federal employment assistance programs and extend health coverage and bereavement counseling that caregivers rely on. It would also require a reassessment of the feasibility of establishing an individual retirement savings plan for caregivers. 

One-third of military and veteran caregiving families live at or below the federal poverty line. Food insecurity among those caring for a veteran age 60 or under (many of them post-9/11 combat veterans) has reached 40 percent, and two-thirds of this same population have difficulty paying their bills. 

In 2012, Congress established a program to provide monthly stipends from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for the caregivers of veterans with the most complex needs. However, these stipends are not considered earned income for Social Security or retirement savings plans, which leaves caregivers unable to build a safety net for their future. This stipend ends soon after a caregiver transitions out of the role, which is most often when their veteran loved one passes away.

In moments of hardship, grief and change, caregivers often find themselves far behind in professional experience and without sufficient savings to rely on. 

Andrea Sawyer, Advocacy Director of the Quality Life Foundation and a former caregiver, helped call attention to these gaps in support. Nearly 20 years ago, Andrea began caring for her husband, an Army veteran with severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and a traumatic brain injury. Andrea’s caregiving responsibilities forced her to leave her teaching career and lose her National Board of Professional Teaching Standards certificate — one of the most highly sought certifications in education - as well as two state teaching licenses. When Andrea left caregiving in 2021, it would have cost thousands of dollars to renew these licenses if she chose to return to the classroom. At age 48, she had lost 15 years of earning retirement, making contributions to her private retirement account, contributing to Social Security, and her senior leadership and salary status that come with remaining in the workforce during that time.

Similarly, Shawn Lopez was just starting his career as a geologist, after nine years of undergraduate and graduate work, when his veteran father suffered a major stroke and subsequent seizures from kidney cancer caused by military toxic exposure. For six years, Shawn did it all—monitored his dad’s vitals, responded to his bed alarm in the middle of the night, and managed hospital visits. When his father passed away this spring, Shawn rolled up his sleeves once more to coordinate his dad’s final arrangements. As he did so, a family member launched a fundraising page for Shawn, knowing that Shawn’s VA stipend ended with the passing of his father, and it would take Shawn time to reenter the workforce.  

Stories like Andrea’s and Shawn’s demonstrate the need for Congress to pass the bipartisan Veteran Caregiver Reeducation, Reemployment, and Retirement Act.

We cannot ask caregivers to dedicate their lives to this service, while providing billions of dollars of care, only to turn our backs on them when they need support the most. The Veteran Caregiver Reeducation, Reemployment, and Retirement Act will help correct these issues by providing essential reforms and support to better meet caregivers' needs.

Considering the sacrifices that military and veteran caregivers have made for those who have served, we must not wait to act and pass this critical legislation.

Note to editor: The Honorable Jerry Moran is the senior U.S. Senator from Kansas and Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. Steve Schwab is CEO of the Elizabeth Dole Foundation.

Originally published in The Hill.