LRB-0325/P2
MJW:emw
2023 - 2024 LEGISLATURE
DOA:......Stinebrink, BB0004 - Assistance to Needy Veterans grant program changes
For 2023-2025 Budget -- Not Ready For Introduction
An Act ...; relating to: the budget.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
Veterans
Veterans assistance
Under current law, DVA administers the Assistance to Needy Veterans grant program, which provides subsistence aid and health care aid to veterans. Under the program, DVA may provide up to $3,000 in subsistence aid per 12-month period to veterans who have suffered a loss of income due to illness, injury, or natural disaster. Under the program, DVA may also provide aid payments to a veteran to pay for dental care, hearing care, and vision care. The total lifetime limit that a veteran may receive in aid under the program is $7,500.
This bill expands the program by allowing DVA to provide subsistence aid payments, in an amount of up to $5,000 per 12-month period, to a veteran who has suffered a loss of income for any reason and also allows DVA to provide health care aid payments to pay for any medical device prescribed by a licensed health care provider. The bill also raises the lifetime limit on aid that a veteran may receive under the program to $10,000.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:
Section
1. 20.485 (2) (vm) (title) of the statutes is repealed and recreated to read:
20.485 (2) (vm) (title) Veterans assistance grants.
****Note: This Section
involves a change in an appropriation that must be reflected in the revised schedule in s. 20.005, stats.
Section
2. 45.40 (title) of the statutes is repealed and recreated to read:
45.40 (title) Veterans assistance grants.
Section
3. 45.40 (1g) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:
45.40 (1g) (a) “Health care provider" means an advanced practice nurse prescriber certified under s. 441.16 (2), an audiologist licensed under ch. 459, a dentist licensed under ch. 447, an optometrist licensed under ch. 449, a physician licensed under s. 448.02, or a podiatrist licensed under s. 448.63
has the meaning given in s. 146.81 (1) and includes an ambulatory surgery center.
Section
4. 45.40 (1m) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:
45.40 (1m) (a) The department may provide subsistence payments to a veteran on a month-to-month basis or for a 3-month period. The department may pay subsistence aid for a 3-month period if the veteran will be incapacitated for more than 3 months and if earned or unearned income or aid from sources other than those listed in the application will not be available in the 3-month period. The department may provide subsistence payments only to a veteran who has suffered a loss of income due to illness, injury, or natural disaster. The department may grant subsistence aid under this subsection to a veteran whose loss of income is the result of abuse of alcohol or other drugs only if the veteran is participating in an alcohol and other drug abuse treatment program that is approved by the department. No payment may be made under this subsection if the veteran has other assets or income available to meet basic subsistence needs or if the veteran is eligible to receive aid from other sources to meet those needs. When determining the assets available to the veteran, the department may not include the first $50,000 of cash surrender value of any life insurance.
Section
5. 45.40 (1m) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:
45.40 (1m) (b) The maximum amount that any veteran may receive under this subsection per occurrence during a consecutive 12-month period may not exceed $3,000 $5,000.
Section
6. 45.40 (2) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:
45.40 (2) (a) The department may provide health care aid to a veteran for dental care, including dentures; vision care, including eyeglass frames and lenses; and hearing care, including hearing aids; and for any other medical device prescribed by a health care provider.
Section
7. 45.40 (2m) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:
45.40 (2m) (a) The unremarried spouse and dependent children of a veteran who died on active duty, or in the line of duty while on active or inactive duty for training purposes, in the U.S. armed forces or forces incorporated in the U.S. armed forces are eligible to receive payments under subs. (1m) and (2) if the household income of those persons does not exceed the income limitations established under sub. (3m).
Section
8. 45.40 (3) of the statutes is amended to read:
45.40 (3) Limitations. The total cumulative amount that any veteran may receive under this section may not exceed $7,500
$10,000.
(End)
