ALEXANDRIA, Virginia & WASHINGTON—On Jan. 22, representatives reintroduced Gerald's Law as a standalone bill to permanently protect burial benefits for veterans who receive hospice care furnished by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) outside of a VA facility. The bill was reintroduced by Reps. Jack Bergman (R-MI) and Nikki Budzinski (D-IL).
Gerald’s Law was enacted at the end of 2024 as part of the Sen. Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act, and signed into law on January 2, 2025. However, the provision was included as a time-limited pilot and currently applies only to veterans who pass away between July 2025 and October 1, 2026. Gerald ("Jerry") Elliott's family was denied burial benefits after he passed away at home in 2019, as the law previously required death to occur in a VA facility for full benefits.
Under prior law, veterans who received VA-furnished hospice care at home or in other non-VA settings were deemed to have died “outside” a qualifying VA facility, even when the VA remained responsible for their care. As a result, some families lost access to the full VA burial allowance because of where their loved one spent their final days. The representatives said Gerald’s Law closes this gap, ensuring that veterans receiving VA-furnished hospice care—whether at home, in a nursing home or another non-VA setting—retain access to their full burial benefits.
“Veterans should not be penalized for choosing to spend their final days at home, surrounded by loved ones," said Bergman. "Forcing families to forfeit earned burial benefits is unacceptable, and what happened to Jerry must never happen again.”
“For surviving families, VA’s burial allowance eases the burden of funeral and burial costs, allowing them to properly honor their loved one who gave so much in service to our country," said Budzinski. "It’s wrong for a veteran to be denied this earned benefit just because they choose to pass away in the comfort of their own home. Congress temporarily closed this loophole last year, now it’s time to fix this injustice permanently.”
The National Alliance for Care at Home (the Alliance) praised the bi-partisan effort to close the gap in benefits impacting veterans and their families.
“We are deeply grateful for the reintroduction of Gerald’s Law by Representatives Bergman and Budzinski,” said Steve Landers, CEO of the Alliance. “This critical legislation ensures that veterans and their families can continue to choose comfort over cost when selecting an end-of-life care setting, without having to risk the loss of crucial burial benefits. While Congress previously addressed this issue on a temporary basis, veterans and their families deserve certainty and permanence. We thank both Representatives for their bipartisan leadership and look forward to supporting efforts to make this protection permanent and ensure continued access to care at home for our nation’s veterans.”
“As a pilot program, Gerald’s Law demonstrated how critical it was to address the gaps in veteran end of life benefits," said Andrew Tangen, president of the National Association of County Veteran Service Organizations. "NACVSO has long supported this initiative and looks forward to working with Representatives Bergman and Budzinski to make Gerald's Law permanent. The pilot provision has been successful and now is the time to do the right thing for our veterans."