[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1377 Referred in Senate (RFS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1377


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 31, 2009

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
 To amend title 38, United States Code, to expand veteran eligibility 
 for reimbursement by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for emergency 
    treatment furnished in a non-Department facility, 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. EXPANSION OF VETERAN ELIGIBILITY FOR REIMBURSEMENT BY 
              SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS FOR EMERGENCY TREATMENT 
              FURNISHED IN A NON-DEPARTMENT FACILITY.

    (a) Expansion of Eligibility.--Section 1725 of title 38, United 
States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b)(3)(C), by striking ``or in part''; 
        and
            (2) in subsection (f)(2), by striking subparagraph (E).
    (b) Limitations on Reimbursement.--Subsection (c) of such section 
is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
    ``(4)(A) If the veteran has contractual or legal recourse against a 
third party that would only, in part, extinguish the veteran's 
liability to the provider of the emergency treatment, and payment for 
the treatment may be made both under subsection (a) and by the third 
party, the amount payable for such treatment under such subsection 
shall be the amount by which the costs for the emergency treatment 
exceed the amount payable or paid by the third party, except that the 
amount payable may not exceed the maximum amount payable established 
under paragraph (1)(A).
    ``(B) In any case in which a third party is financially responsible 
for part of the veteran's emergency treatment expenses, the Secretary 
shall be the secondary payer.
    ``(C) A payment in the amount payable under subparagraph (A) shall 
be considered payment in full and shall extinguish the veteran's 
liability to the provider.
    ``(D) The Secretary may not reimburse a veteran under this section 
for any copayment or similar payment that the veteran owes the third 
party or for which the veteran is responsible under a health-plan 
contract.''.
    (c) Effective Date.--
            (1) In general.--The amendments made by subsections (a) and 
        (b) shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act, 
        and shall apply with respect to emergency treatment furnished 
        on or after the date of the enactment of this Act.
            (2) Reimbursement for treatment provided before effective 
        date.--The Secretary may provide reimbursement under section 
        1725 of title 38, United States Code, as amended by subsections 
        (a) and (b), for emergency treatment furnished to a veteran 
        before the date of the enactment of this Act, if the Secretary 
        determines that, under the circumstances applicable with 
        respect to the veteran, it is appropriate to do so.

            Passed the House of Representatives March 30, 2009.

            Attest:

                                            LORRAINE C. MILLER,

                                                                 Clerk.