President Joe Biden said Wednesday that he had signed into a law a bill that aims to expand the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines to military veterans and their families.
The bill, the SAVE LIVES Act, authorizes the Department of Veterans Affairs to distribute doses of a COVID-19 vaccine to veterans who are not eligible to enroll in a VA health care system.
According to the text of the bill, those veterans now covered for a COVID-19 vaccine by the VA include:
- Veterans who are not eligible to enroll in the VA health care system;
- Specified veterans who are eligible for hospital care, medical services, and nursing home care abroad;
- Family caregivers who are approved as providers of personal care services for veterans under the VA's Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers;
- Caregivers of veterans participating in the VA's Program of General Caregiver Support Services; and
- Caregivers of veterans participating in the VA's Medical Foster Home Program, Bowel and Bladder Program, Home Based Primary Care Program, or Veteran Directed Care Program.
The bill passed both the House and the Senate without objection.