[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3819 Referred in Senate (RFS)]

  2d Session
                                H. R. 3819


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 22, 2008

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
  To amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs to reimburse veterans receiving emergency treatment in 
non-Department of Veterans Affairs facilities for such treatment until 
 such veterans are transferred to Department facilities, and for other 
                               purposes.

    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 Emergency Care Fairness Act 
of 2008''.

SEC. 2. 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.'';
            (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.''.

            Passed the House of Representatives May 21, 2008.

            Attest:

                                            LORRAINE C. MILLER,

                                                                 Clerk.