A bipartisan group of 40 lawmakers led by U.S. Rep. Randy Hultgren (R-IL) on Monday sent a letter to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) seeking to put an end to the department’s delayed reimbursement practices.
Specifically, “inappropriate and delayed Veterans Choice Program billing” has negatively impacted veterans despite Congress earlier this year passing legislation that made the VA the primary payer under the program. The Choice Program allows eligible military vets to use a private medical provider that participates in the program.
Joining Hultgren in writing the letter were U.S. Reps. John Delaney (D-MD), Julia Brownley (D-CA), and Jodey Arrington (R-TX).
“We believe reforms will improve medical treatment for our nation’s veterans, but it has come to our attention that the billing and reimbursement practices of the VA are leading to adverse credit actions against participants in the program, including debt collection proceedings and reporting of negative information on the participants’ credit reports,” wrote lawmakers in the July 10 letter to VA Secretary David Shulkin.
At the same time, “delayed reimbursements to providers and bills inappropriately assigned to veterans are a grave disservice to those who served to protect our country,” according to the letter, which noted that as of May 18, the VA had received more than 57,000 calls requesting help with credit reporting related to the Choice Program.
The members of Congress asked that Shulkin answer several questions, including the average time it takes the department to provide payment for a claim made via the Veterans Choice Program and what actions the VA will take “to rectify the adverse credit actions for which it is responsible.”
And they said they “look forward to a prompt response.”
This has been an ongoing problem. In May, for instance, Hultgren was among a bipartisan group of congressional members who reintroduced the related Protecting Veterans Credit Act of 2017, H.R. 2683, which would ensure the credit scores and credit reports of veterans are not affected by delayed medical payments associated with VA programs. The House version is an identical bill to S. 744.
“Enough veterans have faced collateral damage from delays at the VA — their credit score shouldn’t be another casualty of this bureaucracy,” said Hultgren when introducing the bill, which has been referred to the House Financial Services Committee.