[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1562 Introduced in House (IH)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1562

To amend title 38, United States Code, to enhance the authority of the 
    Department of Veterans Affairs to recover costs of medical care 
 furnished to veterans and other persons by the Department from third 
  parties that provide health insurance coverage to such veterans and 
                             other persons.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 2, 2003

  Mr. Beauprez (for himself, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, Mr. Evans, Mr. 
 Simmons, and Mr. Rodriguez) introduced the following bill; which was 
             referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to enhance the authority of the 
    Department of Veterans Affairs to recover costs of medical care 
 furnished to veterans and other persons by the Department from third 
  parties that provide health insurance coverage to such veterans and 
                             other persons.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Veterans Health Care Cost Recovery 
Act of 2003''.

SEC. 2. AUTHORITY FOR DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS TO RECOVER MEDICAL 
              COSTS FROM THIRD-PARTY PROVIDERS AS IF IT IS A PREFERRED 
              PROVIDER ORGANIZATION.

    Section 1729(f) of title 38, United States Code, is amended by 
adding at the end the following new sentence: ``The absence of a 
participation agreement or other contractual arrangement entered into 
by the Secretary with a person obligated to provide, or to pay, the 
expenses of health services under a health-plan contract or with a 
third party that is a preferred provider organization may not be used 
or operate to prevent, or reduce the amount of, any such recovery or 
collection by the United States.''.

SEC. 3. RECOVERY OF COSTS OF HEALTH CARE AND SERVICES PROVIDED TO 
              PERSONS OTHER THAN VETERANS.

    (a) Cost Recovery.--Section 1729 of title 38, United States Code, 
is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(j)(1) Whenever the Secretary furnishes care and services to a 
person other than a veteran, the United States shall have the right to 
recover or collect charges for such care or services in the same 
manner, and to the same extent, as is provided under this section for 
care and services furnished to a veteran, except that for such purpose 
the terms `health-plan contract' and `third-party' shall have the 
meanings set forth in paragraphs (2) and (3), respectively, of section 
1725(f) of this title.
    ``(2) The amounts of charges under paragraph (1) shall be in such 
amounts as the Secretary may prescribe by regulation.''.
    (b) Technical Amendments.--Subsection (a)(2) of such section is 
amended--
            (1) by inserting ``or'' at the end of subparagraph (C); and
            (2) by striking subparagraphs (D) and (E) and inserting the 
        following:
            ``(D) that is incurred by a veteran who is entitled to care 
        (or payment of the expenses of care) under a health-plan 
        contract, but, in the case of a veteran who has a service-
        connected disability, only with respect to care and services 
        furnished before October 1, 2007.''.

SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    The amendments made by sections 2 and 3(a) shall apply only with 
respect to care and services furnished under chapter 17 of title 38, 
United States Code, on and after the date of the enactment of this Act.
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