Veterans Emergency Care Reimbursement Act of 2025

The Veterans Emergency Care Reimbursement Act of 2025 would change how the Department of Veterans Affairs reimburses veterans for emergency medical treatment received outside VA facilities when the veteran has a health-plan contract. Specifically, it introduces a clear cap: reimbursements for amounts a veteran owes to a third party or under a health-plan contract would be limited to copayments that are less than $100. The bill also adds a formal definition of copayment (a fixed out-of-pocket amount for a covered service, excluding deductions like deductibles and coinsurance) and clarifies how this applies to reimbursement claims. In addition, the bill is retroactive in scope. Its amendments apply to reimbursement claims for emergency treatment furnished on or after February 1, 2012, including claims arising from Wolfe v. McDonough (a related class-action proceeding). The bill also broadens the category of what can be considered a reimbursement claim, including copayments, deductibles, coinsurance, or other cost shares, and even the reasonable value of emergency treatment that VA previously rejected or denied, when the veteran had health-plan coverage and received care outside VA facilities. Definitions for “emergency treatment” and “health-plan contract” are aligned with existing statute (38 U.S.C. 1725(f)).