Gerald’s Law Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7199 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7199

 To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide a burial allowance 
 for certain veterans who die at home while in receipt of hospice care 
            furnished by the Department of Veterans Affairs.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 22, 2026

   Mr. Bergman (for himself, Ms. Budzinski, Mr. Golden of Maine, Ms. 
 Malliotakis, Mr. Self, Ms. Lee of Nevada, Mr. Bacon, Mr. Neguse, Mr. 
  DesJarlais, Mr. Mast, Mr. Baird, and Ms. Pettersen) introduced the 
   following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans' 
                                Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide a burial allowance 
 for certain veterans who die at home while in receipt of hospice care 
            furnished by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Gerald's Law Act''.

SEC. 2. BURIAL ALLOWANCE FOR CERTAIN VETERANS WHO DIE AT HOME WHILE IN 
              RECEIPT OF HOSPICE CARE FURNISHED BY DEPARTMENT OF 
              VETERANS AFFAIRS.

    (a) In General.--Section 2303(a)(2)(A) of title 38, United States 
Code, is amended--
            (1) in clause (i), by striking ``; or'' and inserting a 
        semicolon;
            (2) in clause (ii)(III), by striking the period at the end 
        and inserting ``; or''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new clause:
                    ``(iii) a home or other setting at which the 
                deceased veteran was, at the time of death, receiving 
                hospice care pursuant to section 1717(a) of this title 
                if such care was directly preceded by the Secretary 
                furnishing to the veteran hospital care or nursing home 
                care as described in subclauses (I), (II), or (III) of 
                clause (ii).''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a) shall 
take effect as if included in the enactment of the Johnny Isakson and 
David P. Roe, M.D. Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 
2020 (Public Law 116-315).
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