S. 1965 would require the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to carry out a two-year pilot program to provide geriatric psychiatry services to veterans at state-operated facilities that provide nursing home, domiciliary, and adult day care to veterans. Using information from VA, CBO estimates that the program would assist up to 600 veterans in each year at an average annual cost of $2,400 per veteran. In total, implementing the pilot program would cost $3 million over the 2022-2026 period.
The bill also would require VA to monitor contractors who conduct inspections of state veterans’ homes on a quarterly basis, report deficiencies to the Secretary, and publish results of those inspections. The department meets the inspection oversight and reporting requirements under current law. Using costs for similar information technology and website management requirements, CBO estimates that publishing inspection reports would cost less than $500,000 each year and total $2 million over the 2022-2026 period.
