[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5261 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 5261

  To amend title 38, United States Code, to modify the limitation on 
reimbursement for emergency treatment of amounts owed to a third party 
 or for which the veteran is responsible under a health-plan contract.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 10, 2025

 Mrs. Dingell introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend title 38, United States Code, to modify the limitation on 
reimbursement for emergency treatment of amounts owed to a third party 
 or for which the veteran is responsible under a health-plan contract.

    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 
Reimbursement Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. MODIFICATION OF LIMITATION ON REIMBURSEMENT FOR EMERGENCY 
              TREATMENT OF AMOUNTS OWED TO A THIRD PARTY OR FOR WHICH 
              THE VETERAN IS RESPONSIBLE UNDER A HEALTH-PLAN CONTRACT.

    (a) In General.--Section 1725(c)(4)(D) of title 38, United States 
Code, is amended--
            (1) by striking ``The Secretary'' and inserting ``(i) The 
        Secretary'';
            (2) in clause (i), as designated by paragraph (1), by 
        striking ``or similar payment'' and inserting ``of less than 
        $100''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new clause:
    ``(ii) In this subparagraph, the term `copayment' means a fixed 
amount paid by an individual for a covered health service received by 
the individual and does not include any amount paid for a deductible or 
coinsurance.''.
    (b) Application of Amendment.--The amendments made by subsection 
(a) shall apply with respect to any reimbursement claim under section 
1725 of such title submitted to the Department of Veterans Affairs for 
emergency treatment furnished on or after February 1, 2012, including 
any such claim submitted by a member of the certified class seeking 
relief in Wolfe v. McDonough, No. 18-6091 (U.S. Vet. App.).
    (c) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) The terms ``emergency treatment'' and ``health-plan 
        contract'' have the meanings given those terms in section 
        1725(f) of title 38, United States Code.
            (2) The term ``reimbursement claim'' includes any claim by 
        a veteran for reimbursement of a copayment, deductible, 
        coinsurance, or any other type of cost share for emergency 
        treatment furnished to the veteran in a non-Department of 
        Veterans Affairs facility and made by a veteran who had 
        coverage under a health-plan contract, including any claim for 
        the reasonable value of emergency treatment that was rejected 
        or denied by the Department of Veterans Affairs, whether the 
        rejection or denial was final or not.
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