Department of Veterans Affairs March 23, 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) proposes to amend its regulations concerning per diem payments to States to permit continuation of such payments in some situations for veterans who have been evacuated from a State home as a result of an emergency. Per diem is the daily rate paid by VA to a State for providing a specified level of care to eligible veterans in a facility that is officially recognized and certified by VA. This regulation would authorize VA to continue to pay per diem when veterans for whom VA is paying per diem are evacuated as a result of an emergency from a State home to a facility that is not recognized by VA as a State home. The regulation would require, in order for per diem payments to continue while the veteran is relocated due to an emergency, that an appropriate VA official determine whether an emergency exists and whether the facility to which veterans may be evacuated (evacuation facility) complies with certain minimum standards. This regulation would establish the minimum standards that facilities to which veterans are evacuated must meet in order for States to continue receiving per diem for relocated veterans. These standards would apply also to evacuation facilities when veterans are evacuated from contract nursing homes.