I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 439
To amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Department of Veterans
Affairs to furnish hospital care and medical services outside a State
to veterans with service-connected disabilities rated as permanent and
total, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY15, 2025
Mr. L
ALOTAintroduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Veterans’ Affairs
A BILL
To amend title 38, United States Code, to require the De-
partment of Veterans Affairs to furnish hospital care
and medical services outside a State to veterans with
service-connected disabilities rated as permanent and
total, 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 ‘‘Veterans Foreign Med-4
ical Coverage Equality and Modernization Act of 2025’’. 5
VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:51 Feb 06, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H439.IH H439
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2
•HR 439 IH
SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS FURNISHING 1
OF HOSPITAL CARE AND MEDICAL SERVICES 2
OUTSIDE A STATE TO VETERANS WITH SERV-3
ICE-CONNECTED DISABILITIES RATED AS 4
PERMANENT AND TOTAL. 5
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Section 1724 of title 38, United 6
States Code, is amended— 7
(1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘and (f)’’ and 8
inserting ‘‘(f), and (g)’’; and 9
(2) by adding at the end the following new sub-10
sections: 11
‘‘(g) The Secretary shall furnish hospital care and 12
medical services outside a State to a veteran with a serv-13
ice-connected disability rated as permanent and total who 14
is otherwise eligible to receive hospital care and medical 15
services if the Secretary determines that— 16
‘‘(1) the hospital care or medical services fur-17
nished are consistent with the standard medical 18
practice in the United States; and 19
‘‘(2) in the case of any prescription medication 20
furnished, such medication is approved by the Food 21
and Drug Administration. 22
‘‘(h) In carrying out this section, the Secretary shall 23
ensure that— 24
‘‘(1) reimbursements made to veterans and 25
medical providers can be made by direct deposit pay-26
VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:51 Feb 06, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H439.IH H439
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3
•HR 439 IH
ments in such a manner as to expedite such reim-1
bursements, improve efficiency, and reduce adminis-2
trative costs; and 3
‘‘(2) the appropriate mobile applications of the 4
Department provide for— 5
‘‘(A) the digital submission and real-time 6
tracking of any forms and supporting docu-7
mentation required for the receipt of hospital 8
care or medical services, or reimbursement for 9
such care or services, under this section; and 10
‘‘(B) the availability of any benefits au-11
thorization letter, predetermination letter, or 12
continuity of care document associated with 13
hospital care or medical services furnished 14
under this section.’’. 15
(b) E
FFECTIVEDATE.—The amendments made by 16
subsection (a) shall take effect on the date that is 90 days 17
after the date of the enactment of this Act and apply with 18
respect to hospital care or medical services furnished on 19
or after such date. 20
(c) R
EPORT.—Not later than two years after the date 21
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans 22
Affairs shall submit to Congress a report on the amend-23
ments made by this Act. Such report shall include an anal-24
ysis of the implementation of such amendments, any chal-25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:51 Feb 06, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H439.IH H439
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4
•HR 439 IH
lenges encountered, and the efficacy of the hospital care 1
and medical services furnished pursuant to such amend-2
ments. 3
Æ
VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:51 Feb 06, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H439.IH H439
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB