[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 48 (Thursday, March 25, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Page S2107]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       MINIMUM ESSENTIAL COVERAGE

  Mr. AKAKA. Madam President, as chairman of the Senate Committee on 
Veterans' Affairs, concerns have been raised to me about a technical 
error in the health care reform bill that was recently passed, the 
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, H.R. 3590. In drafting the 
PPACA, a provision was included which designates health care provided 
under VA's authority as meeting the minimum required health care 
coverage that an individual is required to maintain.
  However, due to the way this exemption was worded, this definition 
may exclude children with spina bifida, who are seriously disabled and 
to whom VA provides reimbursement for comprehensive health care. The 
underlying bill gave authority to the Secretary of Health and Human 
Services to designate other care, which could include the VA spina 
bifida program, as meeting the definition of minimum essential 
coverage. This bill would simply clarify what was originally intended.
  Chapter 18 of title 38 contains the Spina Bifida Health Care Program, 
whichis a health benefit program administered by the Department of 
Veterans Affairs to provide reimbursement for comprehensive health care 
for children with spina bifida who are born to veterans of the Vietnam 
War and to some veterans who served in Korea during specified times, as 
well as children of women Vietnam veterans with certain birth defects. 
The program provides reimbursement for medical services and supplies.
  My legislation corrects this small error. Additionally, this 
legislation would clarify that recipients of CHAMPVA would also be 
considered as meeting the requirement for minimum essential coverage. 
This legislation is currently supported by 59 cosponsors, including my 
friend from North Carolina, and the ranking member on my Committee, 
Senator Burr. Additionally, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Disabled 
American Veterans, and the Military Officers Association of America 
have endorsed this bill.
  Thank you, Madam President and I thank my colleagues for their 
support in making this small but important clarification for veterans.

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