Catch up with the latest developments from Capitol Hill on issues that mean the most to PN News readers
Congress Renews ACT for ALS, Keeping Access to Experimental Treatments Alive
Congress has voted to keep the Accelerating Access to Critical Therapies (ACT) for ALS Reauthorization Act going. On Sept. 28, lawmakers passed the act, which extends the 2021 law through 2031. Without action, the original act would have expired at the end of this month.
The law was created to get promising experimental therapies to people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) sooner and to push forward research on treatments for a disease that is always fatal. The reauthorization continues both the research funding and the expanded access programs that make those therapies available.
The bill now heads to the White House, where the president is expected to sign it.
VA Watchdog Finds Record Staffing Shortages Across VHA
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) has released a report documenting severe staffing shortages across the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). Published Sept. 11, it counts 4,712 severe shortages reported by VHA facilities in fiscal year 2026, spanning 389 different occupations. That is a record, and it suggests the problem is getting worse.
Some of the gaps hit close to home for PVA members:
- Specialists: Shortages include neurology, gastroenterology, physiatry and urology, all specialties many spinal cord injury (SCI) patients rely on.
- Nurses: Practical nurses are the most commonly reported clinical shortage, cited by 59% of facilities. That includes nurses with added expertise in wound care and in SCI care.
- Support staff: Respiratory therapists and social workers are also in short supply.
- Police: Police officers are the most commonly reported nonclinical shortage, reported at 57% of facilities.
The report lists vacancies facility by facility but does not make recommendations. Because compiling the data takes time, some of these positions may have been filled since the report. Even so, the report gives Congress and the VA a clear picture of where the gaps are and a way to track them.
House Democrats Hold Roundtable on Rising VA Home Loan Foreclosures
More and more VA-backed home loans are heading into foreclosure. On Sept. 23, Democratic members of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee (HVAC) held a roundtable to talk about why and what could be done to keep veterans in their homes.
Participants came from across the home loan industry, including:
- The Center for Responsible Lending
- Housing Policy Council
- National Consumer Law Center
- Veterans Association of Real Estate Professionals
- National Association of Mortgage Brokers
They made the case for stronger protections for veteran borrowers.
A big part of the conversation was the VA’s long-awaited Partial Claims Program (PCP). The PCP lets the VA cover a veteran’s missed mortgage payments to bring the loan current, with repayment delayed. It passed last year, after the VA Servicing Purchase (VASP) program ended early in 2025. Industry representatives said that although the VA has announced the PCP’s rollout, loan servicers are not expected to be able to run it until November.
Congressional Briefing Pushes for Faster Approval of Spinal Cord Injury Treatments
Advocates took the case for faster SCI treatments to Capitol Hill. On Sept. 17, BreakThru SCI, a grassroots advocacy group, hosted a congressional briefing for Congress members, staffers and the wider SCI community. The goal was to raise awareness and help speed up approval of promising SCI therapies. The event took place during SCI Awareness Month.
The briefing covered four topics:
- The science: Why SCI is biologically more complex than many people realize.
- The pipeline: New therapies in development that aim to restore function.
- The patient view: Firsthand accounts from people who have taken part in SCI clinical trials.
- The regulatory path: Designated Food and Drug Administration (FDA) pathways for conditions with high unmet need.
“This kind of constructive engagement with policymakers and regulators is essential to advancing patient-focused drug development for conditions with significant unmet need,” said speaker Janet Woodcock, MD, a former FDA acting commissioner.
RAND Study: Veterans’ Civilian Earnings Grow Faster Than Non-Veterans’
A new RAND report finds that veterans who start out behind their civilian peers in pay tend to catch up and pull ahead. Researchers looked at how military service connects to civilian earnings, tracking veterans and nonveterans for their first eight years in the civilian workforce.
The findings
- Veterans’ earnings grew about 10% more than those of comparable nonveterans.
- Veterans tended to start civilian careers with slightly lower pay, but their earnings rose faster.
- That faster growth held across demographic groups.
How they did it
RAND studied earnings from 2005 to 2019 using two sources: the Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics program, the largest longitudinal panel of U.S. worker employment, and the American Community Survey. The comparison accounted for observable differences between veterans and nonveterans. The sample included about 13,000 post-9/11 veterans and 661,000 nonveterans, ages 23 to 35, from roughly 30 participating states.
What’s next
The report calls for more research, especially on how military service histories tie into civilian employment, including federal jobs, to better understand what happens when veterans leave the service.
“Sandwich Generation” Caregivers Face Higher Health and Financial Strain, New Report Finds
Caring for an aging parent and a child at the same time takes a toll. That’s the message of a new report from the National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP on “sandwich generation” caregivers, who are adults looking after both an aging parent and a child under 18. Nearly half are between 35 and 49, and nearly 70% hold a job while providing care.
The health toll
- 22% report physical strain, compared with 17% of other caregivers.
- Almost 40% report high emotional stress.
- More than a quarter say caregiving makes it hard to look after their own health.
The money squeeze
“Sandwich generation” caregivers are more likely to be under heavy financial strain (22% versus 16% of other caregivers). The report puts their risk of high financial strain at 60% higher (after adjusting for other factors) than that of other caregivers. The cause is paying out of pocket twice, both for a parent’s care and for a child’s needs, such as childcare.
What the report recommends
It urges governments to do more for these caregivers, including paid leave policies, tax credits and grants. Like similar studies, it points to an urgent need for a coordinated national effort to support all caregivers.
