Chairman Michaud, thank you for the opportunity to testify before the Sub Committee on Health on this legislation which will assist veterans who get hurt while they are off-duty and require emergency care in non-VA medical facilities. 

Under current law, the VA does not pay for emergency treatment for non-service connected conditions in non-VA facilities if a veteran has third party insurance that pays either full or a portion of the emergency care.  This includes veterans who carry an auto insurance policy providing minimal health care coverage.

I first became aware of this issue through Stephen Brady, a sixty percent service connected veteran who was in a serious motorcycle accident in October of 2007 and received emergency care in a non-VA facility.  Mr. Brady carried an auto insurance policy which covered $10,000 in medical costs, even though his total medical bill far exceeded $10,000.   As you can imagine, this has caused undue stress and financial hardship on veterans such as Stephen Brady.

In the last Congress, I introduced H.R. 5888 to address this problem.  Since then, I’ve worked to make some improvements to the legislation by including new provisions clarifying the reimbursement responsibilities of the VA. 

Specifically, the new provision defines the VA as a secondary payor where a third party insurer covers a part of the veteran’s medical liability.

It also explains that the VA is only responsible for the difference between the amount paid by the third party insurer and the VA allowable amount.  Veterans would continue to be responsible for co-payments owed to the third party insurer.

And finally, it protects our veterans by clarifying that they are not liable for any remaining balance due to the provider after the third party insurer and the VA have made their payments. 

In the new Congress, I hope that the Committee supports and passes this importance piece of legislation. 

In closing, I look forward to the day when veterans like Stephen Brady can focus on their recovery, instead of being overburdened with financial concerns.

Thank you again for the opportunity to share my thoughts with you.