Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


Legislation to support veterans with ALS sponsored by Livingston County Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin is moving forward.

Slotkin’s Justice for ALS Veterans Act was passed out of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs with unanimous, bipartisan support.

The legislation – which ensures families of service members diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) receive important benefits – is now up for consideration by the full House.

Right now, the Department of Veterans Affairs offers an additional benefit to spouses and families of veterans who have died due to a service-related illness, but only in cases where the veteran was disabled for eight years prior to their death. The life-expectancy of a patient with ALS is two to five years, meaning families of these patients rarely receive the benefit.

The Justice for ALS Veterans Act removes the eight-year minimum in ALS cases and extends benefits to surviving spouses and families regardless of the length of the diagnosis – which Slotkin says is a straight-forward reform to existing law that will have a tremendous impact on the loved ones of veterans diagnosed with the awful disease.

Last month, Slotkin met with Jann and Kate Vasiloff, whose husband and father, George, inspired the legislation and who have been advocating for the policy for along time. Slotkin said she was thinking of them as the legislation passed committee. She added she’s thankful to her VA Committee colleagues for their bipartisan support on this important bill, and will continue urging the rest of her colleagues to provide that same support on the House floor.