Bipartisan legislation that would provide much-needed support to veteran caregivers took a significant step toward becoming law last week, advancing out of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee alongside other important MOAA-supported bills.

The progress of the Veteran Caregiver Reeducation, Reemployment, and Retirement (3R) Act (H.R. 2148) highlights growing bipartisan commitment to strengthening support for caregivers, families, and some of the most severely wounded, injured, and disabled veterans in the country.

[TAKE ACTION: Ask Your Lawmakers to Support Veteran Caregivers]

The legislation represents a major step forward for the caregivers who form the backbone of veterans’ long‑term care. By expanding access to education, easing reemployment barriers, and enhancing retirement planning resources, the bill helps ensure caregivers have the tools they need to maintain stability while supporting those who served.

Without targeted reforms like those in the 3R Act, caregivers could be left to rely on public assistance, shifting costs between government agencies rather than reducing them.

MOAA is grateful to every member and veteran advocate who contacted their lawmakers urging action on this critical measure. Your engagement made a real difference. Now that the bill has passed out of both the House and Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committees, it is more important than ever to keep the pressure on this priority. We encourage you to continue urging your elected officials to bring H.R. 2148 and S. 879 to the floor in both chambers and ensure it becomes law before the end of this year.

The legislation will be a key part of MOAA’s upcoming testimony before a joint Feb. 24 hearing of the House and Senate Veterans Affairs Committees. That testimony will cover a range of veterans’ priorities, such as protecting veterans from unaccredited “claim sharks” via the Governing Unaccredited Representatives Defrauding (GUARD) VA Benefits Act and ending the “wounded veteran tax” faced by tens of thousands of combat-injured veterans via the Major Richard Star Act.

More Bills Move Forward

Along with the 3R act, House Veterans Affairs Committee members advanced other MOAA-supported legislation in their Feb. 12 hearing, to include

• The Fisher House Availability Act (H.R. 3726), which would allow TRICARE beneficiaries, including active duty families, to stay in VA Fisher Houses on a space‑available basis. This change would expand access to lodging for families traveling for specialty or emergency care, reducing financial strain and ensuring they can remain close to their loved ones during treatment.
  
  
• The Sharri Briley and Eric Edmundson Veterans Benefits Expansion Act (H.R. 6047), which would increase the rate of Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) to provide additional financial support for survivors and increase the rate of Special Monthly Compensation (SMC) to boost financial support for catastrophically service-connected disabled veterans. The bill is named for Sharri Briley, widow of an Army Black Hawk pilot killed in Somalia in 1993, and for Eric Edmundson, a former Army sergeant who suffered shrapnel wounds, a heart attack, and a brain injury after his Humvee struck a roadside bomb in Iraq in 2005.
  
  

Your Advocacy Remains Essential

The hearing delivered meaningful momentum, but much work remains to get MOAA’s legislative priorities across the finish line. MOAA urges all members and supporters to continue contacting their lawmakers to ensure these bills move swiftly to the floor and are enacted into law. Add your voice to our cause via our Legislative Action Center.

MOAA will continue to monitor developments closely and keep you informed as these important measures progress.