Photo courtesy of civicsnation.org

MIAMI – Florida is coming to the aid of military veterans.

After the Florida Legislature passed several bills to help veterans with health and mental care, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the new legislation into law on Friday in Charlotte County, Florida.

Now veterans and their spouses have better access to nursing home care by removing obstacles like Certificate of Need processes, and another bill expands mental health support and suicide prevention for veterans, and a plan to build more care centers.

The third bill punishes those who try to exploit veterans during the benefits process.

DeSantis says the new rules are designed to prevent that by limiting who can charge veterans for help and when. He says they also cap payouts, ban referral kickbacks, and prohibit misleading guarantees.

“This legislation creates strong new protections for veterans by placing clear limits on unaccredited individuals who charge a particular price to help with VA claims. Under the bill the providers can only be paid if they secure a real increase in benefits for the veteran,” said DeSantis.