,i  #aaeth ,,congress  #ast ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #ccjh  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,july #ai1 #bjag,mr4 
,higgins of ,louisiana introduced the   
following bill2 which was referred to   
the ,committee on ,veterans' ,affairs   
,a ,,bill  ,to require an audit and     
review of the caregiver programs of the 
,department of ,veterans ,affairs1 and  
for other purposes4  #a4 ,short title   
,this ,act may be cited as the ,veterans
 ,caregiver ,improvement and ,expansion 
,act4  #b4 ,audit and review of         
,department of ,veterans ,affairs       
caregiver programs  7a7 ,,gao audit ,the
 ,comptroller ,general of the ,united   
,states shall conduct an audit of the   
caregiver programs of the ,department of
 ,veterans ,affairs4 ,such audit shall  
include--  7#a7 a review of the budget  
formulations1 execution1 allocation1 and
 use of funds for each program2 and     
7#b7 the recommendations of the         
,comptroller ,general for streamlining  
and consolidating the two programs4  7b7

 ,secretary of ,veterans ,affairs review
 ,not later than three months after the 
completion of the audit required under  
subsection 7a71 the ,secretary of       
,veterans ,affairs shall submit to      
,congress a report on the audit that    
includes the identification of--  7#a7  
any changes recommended by the          
,comptroller ,general that the          
,secretary is able to implement without 
legislative changes2  7#b7 any          
recommendation of the ,comptroller      
,general for legislative changes2  7#c7 
any recommendation of the ,comptroller  
,general that the ,secretary determines 
is problematic1 overly expensive1 or    
impractical2 and  7#d7 in the case of   
any recommendation identified under     
paragraph 7#c71 a recommendation for an 
alternative approach to addressing the  
problem identified by the ,comptroller  
,general in making such recommendation4 
7c7 ,implementation ,not later than #bd 
months after the submittal of the report
 under subsection 7b71 the ,secretary   

shall--  7#a7 implement the changes     
described in paragraph 7#a7 of such     
subsection2  7#b7 establish national    
policies based on best practices for    
administering the caregiver programs    
designed to streamline and consolidate  
the caregiver programs2 and  7#c7       
establish a database designed to monitor
 all ,department programs that provide  
assistance to caregivers and all        
caregivers receiving assistance under a 
caregiver program4  7d7 ,definitions ,in
 this section3 7#a7 ,the term caregiver 
has the meaning given such term in      
section #agbj;,g7d77#a7 of title #ch1   
,united ,states ,code4  7#b7 ,the term  
caregiver programs means the following  
programs of the ,department of ,veterans
 ,affairs3 7,a7 ,the program for        
assistance and support services for     
caregivers under section #agbj;,g of    
title #ch1 ,united ,states ,code4  7,b7 
,the program to provide counseling1     
training1 and mental health services for
 immediate family members and caregivers

 under section #aghb of such title4