House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee Approves Three Bills on Health Care
The House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Health yesterday approved by voice vote three veterans health bills with "little discussion and no objections," according to CongressDaily Markup Reports. The subcommittee approved one bill (HR 1562) that would allow the Department of Veterans Affairs to receive "full reimbursement for services provided to all persons with insurance, with the exception of service-disabled veterans, for health care related to their service-connected conditions." Some private health plans that cover veterans have refused to reimburse the VA when their members receive care at department health care facilities. The subcommittee also passed a related bill (HR 1715) that would allow the VA to charge Medicare when department health care facilities provide care to veterans who qualify for Medicare. The legislation could "increase the amount of money the VA could collect by hundreds of millions of dollars each year," according to the subcommittee. In addition, the subcommittee approved a third bill (HR 1911) that would establish a Joint Executive Committee to promote collaboration between the VA and the Department of Defense on issues such as health care and other benefits for veterans (Rich, CongressDaily Markup Reports, 5/6).
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