[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 102 (Monday, July 27, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1449]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     PATIENT PROTECTION ACT OF 1998

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. LANE EVANS

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, July 27, 1998

  Mr. EVANS. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to defeat this rule.
  Yesterday, I appeared before the Rules Committee. I urged the 
Committee to make in order an amendment I proposed to offer to H.R. 
4250. My amendment would authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to 
reimburse veterans enrolled in the veterans health care system for the 
cost of emergency care or services received in non-Department of 
Veterans Affairs facilities. My amendment is similar to H.R. 3702, the 
Veterans' Access to Emergency Health Care Act, which I introduced 
earlier this year.
  Under the Evans amendment, veterans enrolled in the VA health care 
system would be reimbursed for the cost of emergency care they receive 
from a non-VA facility when there is a ``serious threat to life or the 
health of a veteran.''
  The legislation we are considering today attempts to write into law 
certain basic health care protections, including emergency care 
protections, for millions of Americans not enrolled in the VA health 
care system. My amendment, which was blocked by the Rules Committee, 
would have afforded similar protections for the millions of American 
veterans who receive their health care from the VA.
  Yesterday's action by the Rules Committee is a disservice to American 
veterans, and comes on the heels of another successful--but misguided--
Republican effort to strip away compensation benefits from veterans who 
became addicted to tobacco while in the military. In the apparent view 
of the Republican leadership, veterans should have known better than to 
become addicted to nicotine while in the service, despite the obvious 
role played by our government and the tobacco companies to facilitate 
smoking by service members.
  As yesterday's Rules Committee action suggests, veterans apparently 
should also have known better than to get sick and require emergency 
medical care outside a VA hospital.
  This Congress has no conscience when it comes to issues of 
significance to our American veterans. Without my amendment, low-
income, or service-connected disabled veterans who rely on VA for their 
health care needs would be provided no basic protections for emergency 
medical care. It's just not right, and it's a slap in the face to the 
men and women who have risked their lives in defense of our nation and 
the values we hold so dear.
  I urge my colleagues to stand up for our veterans and vote against 
this rule.

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