I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5261 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to modify the limitation on reimburse-
ment for emergency treatment of amounts owed to a third party or 
for which the veteran is responsible under a health-plan contract. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 10, 2025 
Mrs. DINGELL introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
A BILL 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to modify the limita-
tion on reimbursement for emergency treatment of 
amounts owed to a third party or for which the veteran 
is responsible under a health-plan contract. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veterans Emergency 
Care Reimbursement Act of 2025’’. 
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SEC. 2. MODIFICATION OF LIMITATION ON REIMBURSE-
MENT 
FOR 
EMERGENCY 
TREATMENT 
OF 
AMOUNTS OWED TO A THIRD PARTY OR FOR 
WHICH 
THE 
VETERAN 
IS 
RESPONSIBLE 
UNDER A HEALTH-PLAN CONTRACT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1725(c)(4)(D) of title 38, 
United States Code, is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘The Secretary’’ and inserting 
‘‘(i) The Secretary’’; 
(2) in clause (i), as designated by paragraph 
(1), by striking ‘‘or similar payment’’ and inserting 
‘‘of less than $100’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following new 
clause: 
‘‘(ii) In this subparagraph, the term ‘copayment’ 
means a fixed amount paid by an individual for a covered 
health service received by the individual and does not in-
clude any amount paid for a deductible or coinsurance.’’. 
(b) APPLICATION
OF AMENDMENT.—The amend-
ments made by subsection (a) shall apply with respect to 
any reimbursement claim under section 1725 of such title 
submitted to the Department of Veterans Affairs for 
emergency treatment furnished on or after February 1, 
2012, including any such claim submitted by a member 
of the certified class seeking relief in Wolfe v. McDonough, 
No. 18–6091 (U.S. Vet. App.). 
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(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) The terms ‘‘emergency treatment’’ and 
‘‘health-plan contract’’ have the meanings given 
those terms in section 1725(f) of title 38, United 
States Code. 
(2) The term ‘‘reimbursement claim’’ includes 
any claim by a veteran for reimbursement of a co-
payment, deductible, coinsurance, or any other type 
of cost share for emergency treatment furnished to 
the veteran in a non-Department of Veterans Affairs 
facility and made by a veteran who had coverage 
under a health-plan contract, including any claim for 
the reasonable value of emergency treatment that 
was rejected or denied by the Department of Vet-
erans Affairs, whether the rejection or denial was 
final or not. 
Æ 
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