[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 83 (Tuesday, May 20, 2008)]
[House]
[Pages H4190-H4191]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              VETERANS EMERGENCY CARE FAIRNESS ACT OF 2008

  Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 3819) 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, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 3819

       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.''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Filner) and the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Buyer) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.
  Mr. FILNER. I thank the Speaker.

[[Page H4191]]

  This bill comes to us from a great new Member from the State of Ohio 
(Mr. Space), and I'm going to yield to him as much time as he may 
consume to explain the bill.
  Mr. SPACE. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank Chairman Filner, as 
well as Ranking Member Buyer, for their cosponsorship on this 
legislation as well as for their work in bringing H.R. 3819, the 
Veterans Emergency Care Fairness Act, to the floor today.
  This legislation has been about a year in the making. Last March, I 
received a letter from Terry Carson, CEO of Harrison Community Hospital 
in Cadiz, Ohio, a small town in the 18th Congressional District for the 
State of Ohio. Mr. Carson wrote to me about a problem he was 
experiencing in his 25-bed rural hospital when providing emergency care 
for veterans.
  Currently, the VA reimburses non-VA hospitals for emergency care 
provided to veterans up to the point of stabilization. Once the patient 
is deemed stable enough to transfer, he or she is moved to a VA 
hospital. The problem that Mr. Carson brought to my attention is that 
oftentimes, veterans experience a waiting period for a bed in the VA 
hospital. During this limbo time, the VA is not required to reimburse 
the community hospital for care. Meanwhile, people like Mr. Carson feel 
morally obligated to continue care despite the fact that they cannot 
count on reimbursement. Worse even than non-VA hospitals footing the 
bill is the case of veterans who are paying out of pocket.
  The Veterans Emergency Care Fairness Act closes this loophole by 
requiring the VA to cover the cost of care while the transfer to a VA 
hospital is pending and if the community hospital can document attempts 
to transfer the patient.
  I believe this legislation is the best solution for the VA, community 
hospitals, and, most importantly, our Nation's veterans. To that end, 
this legislation is supported by the American Legion, the Disabled 
American Veterans, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Vietnam Veterans 
of America, the Ohio Hospital Association, the Air Force Sergeants 
Association, the Military Order of the Purple Heart, the Veterans 
Administration itself, and a bipartisan group of our colleagues here in 
the House.
  This bill is a perfect example of how our system is supposed to work: 
a constituent contacts his Member of Congress, the Member listens, and 
an appropriate commonsense legislative fix is found. I'm proud to have 
had a chance to advocate for Mr. Carson, to advocate for the veterans 
he treats, and to advocate for the veterans across the country.
  Once again, I would like to thank all of my colleagues in this 
bipartisan effort, and I urge all of those who have not joined thus far 
in supporting H.R. 3819.
  Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3819, the Veterans Emergency 
Care Fairness Act, a bill to amend title 38 of the 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.
  I commend my colleague from Ohio, Zack Space, for introducing this 
bill. Providing health care services to those who have honorably served 
our country is an important mission of the Department of Veterans 
Affairs. However, in an emergency, a veteran may not always be in close 
proximity to a VA health care facility.
  Mr. Speaker, in 2000 under Public Law 106-117, the Veterans 
Millennium Health Care Act, Congress authorized the VA to reimburse or 
pay for the emergency non-VA treatment of certain enrolled veterans who 
have no medical insurance and no other recourse for payment.

                              {time}  1345

  Current authorities for reimbursement of this emergency treatment are 
discretionary, and VA medical professionals must determine after the 
fact whether an actual emergency existed where a delay in obtaining 
treatment would have been hazardous to that veteran.
  This bill appropriately resolves the current billing issues and 
standardizes requirements for VA to cover the cost of an eligible 
veteran's emergency care. H.R. 3819 would standardize the definition of 
emergency treatment for veterans seeking reimbursement for emergency 
services rendered in a non-VA facility.
  By supporting this bill, we remove the financial uncertainty for 
veterans in an emergency health care status.
  I urge my colleagues to support the bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, this is a perfect example of the way we do 
the best legislation. Mr. Space from Ohio encountered a problem in his 
district, looked into solving it. It turns out it's a problem in every 
district.
  So we thank Mr. Space for his work on this, for his recognizing the 
problem. It is an unacceptable position for a veteran to be in, that 
they're in never-neverland where they have been stabilized in a 
hospital but yet not accepted at a VA hospital and they are liable for 
the cost. What you have done is take that worry and that cost off of 
the veteran and allowed us to deal with him or her in a very respectful 
and clear way.
  So we thank Mr. Space for this legislation.
  I don't have any further speakers, and I would reserve the balance of 
my time.
  Mr. BUYER. At this time, I yield such time as she may consume to the 
ranking member of the O&I Subcommittee of Veterans' Affairs, Ms. Ginny 
Brown-Waite of Florida.
  Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida. I thank the gentleman.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in favor of this bill, H.R. 3819, the Veterans 
Emergency Care Fairness Act. This bill, introduced by my colleague, 
Representative Space, closes a loophole that saddles America's 
hospitals with unnecessary costs.
  Mr. Speaker, America's veterans answered the call of duty and fought 
gallantly for our freedoms. And everyone is thankful for that. However, 
it is up to the government of the United States to care for our vets, 
not private hospitals. This bill ensures that the private hospitals 
providing a bed for a vet while they await care at a VA hospital are 
reimbursed for that care.
  Like Mr. Space, I've been contacted. Previously, he was contacted by 
a constituent. I've been contacted by constituents and actually 
intervened in getting the VA to pay for the hospital care. Once this 
becomes law, neither I nor other Members will have to be in the bill 
collection business because the VA clearly should be paying for this 
without having to have a Congressperson call, asking them to look into 
it.
  As a cosponsor of this important bill, I'm looking forward to voting 
in favor of it, and I urge my colleagues to do the very same.
  Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the bill and 
yield back my time.


                             General Leave

  Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and 
include extraneous material on H.R. 3819, as amended.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. FILNER. I urge my colleagues to unanimously support this bill, 
and I yield back the balance of our time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Filner) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 3819, as amended.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

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