Securing Due Process Rights for Injured Veterans and Their Caregivers

Congress created the Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers (Caregiver Program) in 2010 to provide benefits to caregivers of seriously injured combat veterans. The program provides healthcare and financial support for family members who provide care, recognizing that their services can be all-consuming full-time work. 

Since its inception, however, the program has been riddled with problems. The Veterans Health Administration has applied inconsistent rules and standards across the country, and there have been numerous reports of arbitrary and wrongful reduction or termination of benefits. As of 2019, there had been 400,000 applications for the program, but fewer than 20,000 veterans were enrolled. Furthermore, the VA’s own data shows that nearly 20,000 veterans and caregivers have been removed from the program since its creation.

Compounding these problems, there was no avenue to appeal denial, reduction, or termination of caregiver benefits other than the Veterans Health Administration administrative appeals process. No independent judicial review was available.

In July 2020, we filed a lawsuit on behalf of a veteran and his caregiver through a petition to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, arguing that the existing administrative appeals process of the Caregiver Program leads to erroneous and inconsistent decisions, causing significant strain on their financial, medical, and mental health. 

The lawsuit detailed the enormous consequences of this uneven application of the program. Family members have had to quit jobs to provide care without remuneration or support, and in at least one instance, a veteran committed suicide after learning he didn’t qualify for the Program, feeling that the VA had failed to recognize his disability accurately.

Public Counsel, National Veterans Legal Services Program (NVLSP), and Paul Hastings LLP represent the petitioners in this lawsuit.

UPDATE—APRIL 19, 2021: Veterans and their caregivers secured a landmark decision in the case. The Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims ruled that claimants can appeal decisions under the Caregiver Program to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals and may obtain subsequent judicial review. Not only did the Court grant prospective relief in the form of an injunction requiring the VA to permit such appeals going forward, but the Court also certified a class of claimants who were denied the right to pursue such appeals to ensure they were notified of their appeal rights. 

The decision enables thousands of veterans and caregivers, spanning over a decade, to seek Board review of their claims, requiring determinations to be substantiated and justified, with the potential to recover retroactive benefits. The VA started sending notices to impacted veterans in late November 2021, informing them of their right to appeal.

In December 2021, a website was launched to provide important information about the class action, key court decisions related to the case, and how to appeal Caregiver Program decisions to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals.

UPDATE—FEBRUARY 27, 2024: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit unanimously upheld the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, allowing veterans and caregivers to appeal Caregiver Program decisions to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals. In its decision affirming the lower court’s ruling, the Federal Circuit court rejected the VA’s argument that Congress had insulated the entire program from judicial review, which meant that veterans and caregivers had no recourse outside the Veterans Health Administration. Instead, the court held that only a narrow category of medical determinations “affecting the furnishing of assistance or support” lie outside the Board’s jurisdiction.