India, July 20 -- The Department of Veterans Affairs said it would extend eligibility for its Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers to more "legacy" veterans and their caregivers. This change is expected to help thousands of people who served before 2001, according to a Newsweek report.

The VA is the second-largest federal department and employs about 470,000 people, including many veterans. The VA provides benefits to about 6.2 million veterans.

In a statement, the VA said, "The new rule will extend program eligibility for legacy participants, legacy applicants and their family caregivers for three years while VA continues the rulemaking process to refine the program. The extension will ensure that legacy participan...