Here’s how Congress can do right by veterans, their caregivers and survivors
I served in the Air Force Reserve. I never imagined that the most demanding assignment of my life would come after I hung up the uniform, in our home in Georgia, caring for the veteran I married.
My husband, Ben, served in the Army before and after 9/11. In 2019, he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, a service-connected illness that happens 2.5 times more often in veterans than civilians. It has taken nearly everything the disease can take. He is now a quadriplegic.
Since late that year, he has relied on me for almost every movement of his body, day and night, on top of the post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury he carried from his service.
To be there for him, I left my career as a systems analyst at a Macon hospital. Caregiving became my full-time work, and like so many, I learned it on the job, one hard decision at a time. I would not trade a day of it. But I have also learned how easily families like mine are worn down by the systems meant to support us.
These bills would change daily life for my family
We are not the only Georgians facing these challenges. Roughly 14.3 million Americans are caring for a wounded, ill or injured service member or veteran, and as a 2024 Dole Caregiver Fellow with the Elizabeth Dole Foundation, I have met caregivers in every circumstance imaginable. What we share is a belief that the country these veterans served can do better by them. That is the promise of the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act, a single package that would finally carry more than 60 stalled but broadly supported bills across the finish line.
Three specific parts of that package would ease the weight my family carries. Because Ben’s ALS qualifies him for both Medicare and Veterans Affairs care, I spend hours coordinating between two systems that rarely speak to each other. The Coordinating Care for Senior Veterans and Wounded Warriors Act would create a VA program to help families like ours navigate and manage that care, so a caregiver is not left as the only bridge between them.
The Veteran Caregiver Reeducation, Reemployment, and Retirement Act, known as the 3Rs, speaks to what caregiving costs those who provide it. When I stepped away from my career, I stepped away from a paycheck, from advancement and from the retirement I was building. The 3Rs would extend health coverage, workforce support and examine retirement options to family caregivers like me, recognizing that a labor of love should not end in financial ruin.
And the Sharri Briley and Eric Edmundson Veterans Benefits Expansion Act would add $10,000 a year for veterans with the most catastrophic injuries, like Ben, while strengthening the benefits that surviving spouses rely on. With a disease like ALS, that second promise is never far from my mind.
These bills would change daily life for my family, but my urgency reaches far beyond our door. Behind every provision are millions of veterans, caregivers and survivors across Georgia and the country who have waited too long and cannot afford to wait through another Congress.
Ailing veterans should not be stuck waiting for years
This is not a partisan wish list. Most of these measures have been introduced in both the House and the Senate, backed by Republicans and Democrats alike, and many have stalled for years no matter which party held the majority.
When bills with that much agreement still cannot reach the finish line, and a rare window like this closes, families are told to wait years more. For a veteran living with ALS, or a caregiver hanging on by a thread, those years are not abstract. They decide whether help arrives in time.
Georgia’s veterans, caregivers and survivors now need our congressional leaders to act. I am asking U.S. Sens. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, and the entire Georgia delegation, to vote yes on the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act.
To the families watching from military towns like Warner Robins, home to Robins Air Force Base, your vote is no formality. It is the difference between another year of waiting and the help Congress already agrees we have earned.
I have spent my life in service, first to my country and now to the man I love. I will keep speaking for the veterans, caregivers and survivors who cannot always speak for themselves, and I am asking our leaders to listen, and to vote as though our families are counting on them. We are.
Michele Hopkins is a 25-year Air Force Reserve veteran, the caregiver for her husband, Ben, an Army veteran living with ALS in Warner Robins, and a 2024 Dole Caregiver Fellow with the Elizabeth Dole Foundation.
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The opinions expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.