Emergency Care for Veterans During COVID Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 202 To ensure that veterans receive timely and effective emergency treatment during the COVID–19 emergency, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 3, 2021 Mrs. SHAHEEN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To ensure that veterans receive timely and effective emer- gency treatment during the COVID–19 emergency, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Emergency Care for 4 Veterans During COVID Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. EMERGENCY TREATMENT FOR VETERANS DURING 6 COVID–19 EMERGENCY PERIOD. 7 (a) EMERGENCY TREATMENT.—Notwithstanding 8 section 1725 or 1728 of title 38, United States Code, or 9 any other provision of law administered by the Secretary 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:29 Feb 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S202.IS S202 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 202 IS of Veterans Affairs pertaining to furnishing emergency 1 treatment to veterans at non-Department facilities, during 2 the period of a covered public health emergency, the Sec- 3 retary of Veterans Affairs shall furnish to an eligible vet- 4 eran emergency treatment at a non-Department facility in 5 accordance with this section. 6 (b) AUTHORIZATION NOT REQUIRED.—The Sec- 7 retary may not require an eligible veteran to seek author- 8 ization by the Secretary for emergency treatment fur- 9 nished to the veteran pursuant to subsection (a). 10 (c) PAYMENT RATES.— 11 (1) DETERMINATION.—The rate paid for emer- 12 gency treatment furnished to eligible veterans pursu- 13 ant to subsection (a) shall be equal to the rate paid 14 by the United States to a provider of services (as de- 15 fined in section 1861(u) of the Social Security Act 16 (42 U.S.C. 1395x(u))) or a supplier (as defined in 17 section 1861(d) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x(d))) 18 under the Medicare program under title XI or title 19 XVIII of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1301 et 20 seq.), including section 1834 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 21 1395m), for the same treatment. 22 (2) FINALITY.—A payment in the amount pay- 23 able under paragraph (1) for emergency treatment 24 furnished to an eligible veteran pursuant to sub- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:29 Feb 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S202.IS S202 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 202 IS section (a) shall be considered payment in full and 1 shall extinguish the liability of the veteran to the 2 provider of such treatment, unless the provider re- 3 jects the payment and refunds to the United States 4 such amount by not later than 30 days after receiv- 5 ing the payment. 6 (d) CLAIMS PROCESSED BY THIRD-PARTY ADMINIS- 7 TRATORS.— 8 (1) REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 30 days 9 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec- 10 retary shall seek to award a contract to one or more 11 entities, or to modify an existing contract, to process 12 claims for payment for emergency treatment fur- 13 nished to eligible veterans pursuant to subsection 14 (a). 15 (2) PROMPT PAYMENT STANDARD.—Section 16 1703D of title 38, United States Code, shall apply 17 with respect to claims for payment for emergency 18 treatment furnished to eligible veterans pursuant to 19 subsection (a). 20 (e) PRIMARY PAYER.— 21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall be the 22 primary payer with respect to emergency treatment 23 furnished to eligible veterans pursuant to subsection 24 (a) and with respect to the transportation of a vet- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:29 Feb 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S202.IS S202 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 202 IS eran by ambulance in connection with such emer- 1 gency treatment. 2 (2) RECOVERY OF REASONABLE CHARGES.—In 3 any case in which an eligible veteran is furnished 4 emergency treatment pursuant to subsection (a) for 5 a non-service-connected disability described in sub- 6 section (a)(2) of section 1729 of title 38, United 7 States Code, the Secretary shall recover or collect 8 reasonable charges for such treatment from a 9 health-plan contract described in subsection (i) of 10 such section in accordance with such section. 11 (f) APPLICATION.—This section shall apply to emer- 12 gency treatment furnished to eligible veterans during the 13 period of a covered public health emergency, regardless of 14 whether the treatment was furnished before the date of 15 the enactment of this Act. 16 (g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 17 (1) The term ‘‘covered public health emer- 18 gency’’ means the declaration— 19 (A) of a public health emergency, based on 20 an outbreak of COVID–19, by the Secretary of 21 Health and Human Services under section 319 22 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 23 247d); or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:29 Feb 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S202.IS S202 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 202 IS (B) of a domestic emergency, based on an 1 outbreak of COVID–19, by the President, the 2 Secretary of Homeland Security, or a State or 3 local authority. 4 (2) The term ‘‘eligible veteran’’ means a vet- 5 eran enrolled in the system of patient enrollment of 6 the Department of Veterans Affairs established 7 under section 1705(a) of title 38, United States 8 Code. 9 (3) The term ‘‘emergency treatment’’ means 10 medical care or services rendered in a medical emer- 11 gency of such nature that a prudent layperson rea- 12 sonably expects that delay in seeking immediate 13 medical attention would be hazardous to life or 14 health. 15 (4) The term ‘‘non-Department facility’’ has 16 the meaning given that term in section 1701 of title 17 38, United States Code. 18 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:29 Feb 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S202.IS S202 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS