Mandatory reimbursement of veterans receiving emergency treatment in non-Department of Veterans Affairs facilities until transfer to Department facilities

(a)

Certain veterans without service-connected disability

Section 1725 of title 38, United States Code, is amended— (1)in subsection (a)(1), by striking may reimburse and inserting shall reimburse; and (2)in subsection (f)(1), by striking subparagraph (C) and inserting the following new subparagraph (C):

(C)until— (i)such time as the veteran can be transferred safely to a Department facility or other Federal facility; or (ii)such time as a Department facility or other Federal facility agrees to accept such transfer if— (I)at the time described in clause (i), no Department facility or other Federal facility agrees to accept such transfer; and (II)the non-Department facility in which such medical care or services is furnished makes and documents reasonable attempts to transfer the veteran to a Department facility or other Federal facility.

(b)

Certain veterans with service-connected disability

Section 1728 of such title is amended— (1)by striking subsection (a) and inserting the following new subsection (a):

(a)The Secretary, under such regulations as the Secretary shall prescribe, shall reimburse veterans entitled to hospital care or medical services under this chapter for the reasonable value of emergency treatment (including travel and incidental expenses under the terms and conditions set forth in section 111 of this title) for which such veterans have made payment, from sources other than the Department, where such emergency treatment was rendered to such veterans in need thereof for any of the following: (1)An adjudicated service-connected disability. (2)A non-service-connected disability associated with and held to be aggravating a service-connected disability. (3)Any disability of a veteran in the veteran has a total disability permanent in nature from a service-connected disability. (4)Any illness, injury, or dental condition of a veteran who— (A)is a participant in a vocational rehabilitation program (as defined in section 3101(9) of this title); and (B)is medically determined to have been in need of care or treatment to make possible the veteran's entrance into a course of training, or prevent interruption of a course of training, or hasten the return to a course of training which was interrupted because of such illness, injury, or dental condition.

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(2)in subsection (b), by striking care or services both places it appears and inserting emergency treatment; and (3)by adding at the end the following new subsection:

(c)In this section, the term emergency treatment has the meaning given such term in section 1725(f)(1) of this title.