[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2263 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2263

 To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to reimburse the cost of 
  transportation by ambulance for highly rural veterans seeking care 
  under the laws administered by the Secretary, regardless of whether 
   such veteran qualifies for payments or allowances for beneficiary 
                                travel.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 12, 2023

 Mr. Sullivan introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
             referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to reimburse the cost of 
  transportation by ambulance for highly rural veterans seeking care 
  under the laws administered by the Secretary, regardless of whether 
   such veteran qualifies for payments or allowances for beneficiary 
                                travel.

    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 ``The Rural Vital Emergency 
Transportation Services (VETS) Act''.

SEC. 2. REIMBURSEMENT OF AMBULANCE COST FOR CARE FOR HIGHLY RURAL 
              VETERANS.

    (a) In General.--Under regulations prescribed by the Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs, the Secretary shall pay, or reimburse a highly rural 
veteran for, the cost of transporting the veteran by ambulance, 
including air ambulance, to a provider of the Department of Veterans 
Affairs or a non-Department provider for care authorized under the laws 
administered by the Secretary, or for which subsequent payment or 
reimbursement is authorized under the laws administered by the 
Secretary, regardless of whether the veteran qualifies for payments or 
allowances for beneficiary travel under section 111 of title 38, United 
States Code.
    (b) Highly Rural Veteran Defined.--In this section, the term 
``highly rural veteran'' means a veteran who is located in an area 
rated as a 10 or higher under the rural-urban commuting areas coding 
system of the Department of Agriculture.
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