Following Push from Senator Hassan & Colleagues, VA Extends Eligibility for VA Family Caregivers Program

WASHINGTON -- Following Senator Maggie Hassan’s push for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to address concerns with the Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers, the VA today announced it will extend eligibility for certain veterans and their family caregivers through September 30, 2025.

“Caregivers provide invaluable support for veterans, and the VA Caregivers program has been an essential resource for Granite State veterans and their families,” said Senator Hassan. “This announcement is an important step forward to give veterans more certainty that they can continue to access this program and not experience unexpected changes. I will continue to work on a bipartisan basis to ensure that New Hampshire veterans and their families have the support that they need and have earned.”

The VA Caregiver Program supports family members caring for veterans severely injured in the line of duty. The previous administration narrowed the program’s eligibility, and the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, on which Senator Hassan serves, found that the VA denied 88 percent of applications to the program between October 2020 and August 2021.

After New Hampshire veterans raised concerns, Senator Hassan pressed the VA in February to reverse the previous administration’s changes and keep veterans in the program, and the VA announced in March that it will not remove anyone from the program before they reexamine the eligibility criteria for the program. The VA later announced it will suspend its annual reassessment process for participants in the program as part of its ongoing review. The latest announcement from the VA is an additional step forward in ensuring that New Hampshire veterans can stay in the program.  

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