Weekly Column: Reasonable Regulations And Timely Updates For Idaho Veterans Facilities

Idaho’s state veterans homes play a vital role in meeting the long-term health care and quality of life needs of Idaho veterans.  Ensuring sensible federal requirements for these community assets and enabling timely updates to the facilities can best ensure continued delivery of the highest standard of care for veterans.  I am working with the veterans community and my colleagues in Congress to advance needed policy changes to better ensure time and resources are spent caring for veterans and updating facilities rather than on unnecessary red tape:

Streamlining Inspections

Problem: There are 172 U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)-recognized State Veterans Homes (SVH)s across the country.  This includes four Idaho State Veterans Homes in Post Falls, Pocatello, Lewiston and Boise.  Current federal law mandates all SVHs are subject to annual inspections by the VA to maintain their certification and eligibility for VA per diem payments.  However, approximately three-fourths of SVHs must undergo an additional, nearly identical inspection survey by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in order to receive Medicare/Medicaid payments.  These duplicative inspections place a significant burden on staff and administrative resources--attention and resources that could be better spent delivering care to veterans.  This bureaucratic overlap also does not take into account the regular oversight of SVHs already conducted by state and local governments to ensure compliance with health, safety and emergency preparedness standards.

Solution: I am reintroducing the State Veterans Home Inspection Simplification Act to simplify the inspection process at SVHs to help the nation’s veterans continue to receive high-quality care and services by facilities unburdened by bureaucratic overlap.  The State Veterans Home Inspection Simplification Act would streamline the federal survey process by eliminating duplicative inspections and allowing SVHs to undergo only one annual certification survey.  This legislation would require CMS to grant deemed status and authorize the VA to conduct an accreditation survey in lieu of a separate CMS survey.  This commonsense change would remove overly burdensome and wasteful requirements without compromising the high standard of care veterans deserve.  Most importantly, it would ensure time and resources are focused on what matters most: caring for the veterans who have served our nation.

Enabling Veterans Facilities Updates:

Problem: Idaho’s VA grant applicants were approved and eligible for grant funding to make critical infrastructure improvements to Idaho Veterans Homes.  However, under the Biden Administration, the VA informed Idaho the construction funding was dependent on compliance with the Build America, Buy America Act (BABAA), which has significantly increased project cost and delayed necessary updates to the veterans facilities. 

Solution: Last year, I joined fellow U.S. Senator for Idaho Jim Risch in introducing the Waiving Arbitrary and Inconsistent Veteran Home Eligibility Requirements (WAIVER) Act.  The WAIVER Act would have required the VA to issue waivers for safety, renovation, replacement and new construction projects at SVHs that were granted permission to proceed with their projects prior to the enactment of BABAA in 2022.  Thankfully, within weeks of returning to the Presidency, President Trump’s Administration acted decisively, and quickly approved the process to grant a BABAA waiver for the replacement project of the State Veteran Home in Boise.  Work is now progressing in Boise, and I remain committed to exploring all options to advance the modernization projects at the Pocatello and Lewiston State Veteran Homes.

Every effort must be made to ensure care excellence for veterans.  Reasonable regulations and timely modernizations are part of making sure American veterans have access to innovative care and facilities that respect their extraordinary service to our country.  The Trump Administration’s partnership in this effort is encouraging as I look forward to advancing policy changes so Idaho veterans can continue to receive the services they have earned.   

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