Court rules VA must reimburse veterans for emergency care at non-VA centers.

[elleng]

Source: The Hill

A federal court has ruled against a regulation issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs that allowed the department to block reimbursements from veterans who received emergency medical care at non-VA facilities, NBC News reports.

According to the publication, the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims handed down the ruling on Monday, in which it found that the department had violated federal law by issuing a rule last year that blocked it from reimbursing veterans for emergency medical care costs at non-VA facilities.

The ruling, which found that the department had wrongfully denied reimbursements to veterans under the 2018 rule, reportedly comes years after the department found itself in hot water for another regulation that blocked coverage benefits to veterans for emergency claims if their insurance covered a portion of the costs.

At the time in 2015, the same court also reportedly found that the department had violated the same federal law with the regulation.

Read more: https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/460837-court-rules-va-must-reimburse-veterans-for-emergency-care-at-non-va?

[denbot]

1. Right on!

Most vets supporting Trump blame Obama for them getting fucked by Trump’s own policies.

[keithbvadu2]

2. Some VA hospitals do not have a full emergency room anymore... More of a doc-in-a-box clinic.

Some VA hospitals do not have a full emergency room anymore... More of a doc-in-a-box clinic.

[soryang]

3. the prior violation suggests the DVA should have a right of subrogation against private insurers

If a vet needs to go to the emergency room but has partial insurance coverage, such as a policy with a large deductible, and the VA is billed for the veteran's treatment, the VA should assert a right of recovery against the insurer or the hospital if it has been paid by the insurer to the extent of the policy coverage. This is the way the armed forces used to do it for active service members.

I don't know what the legal relationships are now but government agencies should have a right of recovery against liable private insurers when they pay the bill and stand in the shoes of the insured.

[elleng]

4. Sounds good.