A bill to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a pilot program to use amounts under the Veteran-Directed Care program to provide care to veterans with acquired brain injury, and for other purposes.
Key claim: S5013 would require the VA Secretary to run a pilot using Veteran-Directed Care program funds to furnish care to veterans with acquired brain injury.
Abstract
(S5013 · 119th Congress) Latest action (2026-07-16): Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.
Why this matters
The Veteran-Directed Care program lets veterans control a flexible budget to hire caregivers (including family) for personal care rather than routing services through traditional VA or community care contracts. S5013 would extend this delivery model — currently used for older and functionally disabled veterans — to veterans with acquired brain injury via a pilot, potentially changing what long-term supports these veterans can access and who gets paid to provide them. As an introduced bill, it signals direction rather than a coverage change, but it fits a broader pattern of VA HCBS expansion proposals.