Hearing Of The Subcommittee On Health Of The House Committee On Veterans Affairs - Identifying The Causes Of Inappropriate Billing Practices By The U.S. Department Of Veterans Affairs

Statement

Thank you Mr. Chairman. I appreciate your holding this hearing today.

It is the solemn mission of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the federal government to care for the men and women in uniform who sustain injuries and illnesses as a result of their service to our Nation.

Therefore, I find it deeply troubling to hear about veterans being inappropriately billed for copayments for medical care and medications to treat service connected conditions.

A similar issue arose earlier this year when the Obama Administration was considering a plan to bill veterans' private insurance for service-connected care. Fortunately, this ill-conceived proposal never saw the light of day, given the fierce opposition of Members from both sides of the aisle and Veterans Service Organizations.

As I said then, this flies in the face of our moral obligation as a grateful nation to care for these wounded heroes.

I continue to strongly oppose any attempt to allow VA to shirk this obligation and will ensure that we uphold our responsibility to provide resources to protect and honor the service of our highest priority veterans.

It is unacceptable for VA not to have and put in force policies and procedures to ensure that veterans are not frustrated and burdened by receiving inappropriate and multiple billing statements.

I look forward to hearing from our witnesses today to gain a better understanding of the depth of the problem and what actions must be taken to prevent future inappropriate billing errors.

Thank you Mr. Chairman. I yield back the balance of my time.

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