INCREASE OF EXPENDITURE CAP FOR NONINSTITUTIONAL CARE ALTERNATIVES TO NURSING HOME CARE.

SEC. 120. INCREASE OF EXPENDITURE CAP FOR NONINSTITUTIONAL CARE ALTERNATIVES TO NURSING HOME CARE. (a) Increase of Expenditure Cap.—Section 1720C(d) of title 38, United States Code, is amended— (1) by striking “The total cost” and inserting “(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the total cost”; (2) by striking “65 percent” and inserting “100 percent”; and (3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph: “(2)(A) The total cost of providing services or in-kind assistance in the case of any veteran described in subparagraph (B) for any fiscal year under the program may exceed 100 percent of the cost that would otherwise have been incurred as specified in paragraph (1) if the Secretary determines, based on a consideration of clinical need, geographic market factors, and such other matters as the Secretary may prescribe through regulation, that such higher total cost is in the best interest of the veteran. “(B) A veteran described in this subparagraph is a veteran with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a spinal cord injury, or a condition the Secretary determines to be similar to such conditions.” . (b) [38 U.S.C. 1720C note] Applicability.—The amendments made by subsection (a) shall apply with respect to fiscal years beginning on or after the date of the enactment of this Act.