House takes another stab at a bill reimbursing new veterans for emergency care 

Legislation to help close a loophole that prevents new veterans from getting their emergency care coverage reimbursed by the Veterans Affairs Department is back on Capitol Hill, six months after it was dropped from the fiscal 2024 supplemental funding package that included aid for Ukraine and Israel.  

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., introduced the Removing Extraneous Loopholes Insuring Every Veteran Emergency, or RELIEVE, Act on Sept. 6, intending to correct a current gap in insurance coverage for veterans.

Under the current law, veterans must receive health services at a VA facility within the last two years to be covered under the department’s community care protocol, where veterans can seek health care from community providers when the VA can’t provide it. 

However, for newly enrolled veterans, an initial VA appointment could take more than a month to procure, potentially leaving them without emergency care coverage.

The RELIEVE Act aims to get around that by extending coverage for non-VA emergency care for 60 days to give newly enrolled veterans time to schedule their first VA facility appointment. 

McMorris Rodgers said in a March 2023 statement that she first introduced the bill in February 2023, after an Eastern Washington veteran brought the issue to the congresswoman. The newly enrolled veteran suffered a heart attack days before her first VA doctor’s appointment and went to an emergency room for care.

The VA denied her emergency Care in the Community claims, even though she informed the department of the care within 72 hours, per VA rules, because she had not gained coverage by first going to a VA facility.

“The only thing scarier for a veteran than a trip to the emergency room is finding out the VA won’t cover the cost because of a loophole in the system. Closing this coverage gap and ensuring veterans can receive care when and where they need it most is critical,” the congresswoman said in a 2023 statement. “The passage of this bill is a step in the right direction and brings us closer than ever before to achieving that goal.” 

McMorris Rodgers’ first attempt at the bill later became the legislative vehicle for the fiscal 2024 national security supplemental package. However, its original intent was dropped on amendment once it reached the Senate.

The new version — co-sponsored again by Reps. Jack Bergman, R-Mich., and Chris Pappas, D-N.H. — has been referred to the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, where it had previously secured support from Chairman Mike Bost, R-Ill.