House Passes Veterans' Health Care and Benefits Package on Veterans Day
The House passed H.R. 9237 by voice vote; the veterans package still needs Senate approval and the president's signature.
The U.S. House passed the Take Care of America's Veterans Act on Veterans Day, advancing a broad package of health care and benefits changes for veterans and their families.
H.R. 9237 passed by voice vote Wednesday afternoon, according to the House Clerk's floor record. The measure combines more than 60 provisions addressing access to care, disability benefits, caregivers, surviving families and the operation of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The package includes the Major Richard Star Act, which would allow certain combat-injured veterans who were medically retired to receive full military retirement pay alongside VA disability compensation without the current offset.
Other provisions would expand access to community care when veterans face long VA wait times, strengthen mental health services, improve support for caregivers and Gold Star families, and update education and employment programs.
The package also addresses the VA disability rating schedule for sleep apnea and tinnitus and eligibility for memorial headstones or markers for military families.
House passage does not make the measure law. The package still needs Senate approval and the president's signature. Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Mike Bost said he is working to get it to the president's desk before the end of the year.