I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2785 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs to pay the reasonable costs of urgent care provided to certain 
veterans, to establish cost-sharing amounts for veterans receiving care 
at an emergency room of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and 
for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 6, 2017 
Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana (for himself and Mr. LAMALFA) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
A BILL 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Sec-
retary of Veterans Affairs to pay the reasonable costs 
of urgent care provided to certain veterans, to establish 
cost-sharing amounts for veterans receiving care at an 
emergency room of the Department of Veterans Affairs, 
and for other purposes. 
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 
Room Relief Act of 2017’’. 
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SEC. 2. COVERAGE OF URGENT CARE AND EMERGENCY 
ROOM TREATMENT OF VETERANS BY THE DE-
PARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 
(a) PAYMENT OF REASONABLE COSTS OF URGENT 
CARE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter III of chapter 
17 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by 
inserting after section 1725 the following new sec-
tion: 
‘‘§ 1725A. Payment of reasonable costs of urgent care 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall enter into 
contracts with urgent care providers under which the Sec-
retary pays the urgent care provider the reasonable costs 
of urgent care provided to eligible veterans by the urgent 
care provider. 
‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE VETERANS.—A veteran is an eligible 
veteran for purposes of this section if the veteran— 
‘‘(1) is enrolled in the system of annual patient 
enrollment established and operated under section 
1705(a) of this title; and 
‘‘(2) has received health care under this chapter 
during the two-year period preceding the date on 
which the veteran receives urgent care under this 
section. 
‘‘(c) COST SHARING.—(1) Except as provided in 
paragraph (2), the Secretary shall establish a cost-sharing 
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amount that eligible veterans shall pay to the Secretary 
to receive urgent care from an urgent care provider under 
this section. 
‘‘(2) The cost-sharing amount established under 
paragraph (1) shall not apply to an eligible veteran— 
‘‘(A) if the eligible veteran is admitted to a hos-
pital for treatment or observation after receiving ur-
gent care under this section; or 
‘‘(B) if the eligible veteran is receiving urgent 
care under this section for the treatment of a serv-
ice-connected disability or condition. 
‘‘(d) 
TREATMENT
OF
DEPARTMENT.—Notwith-
standing the coverage of an eligible veteran under a 
health-plan contract, the Secretary shall be considered the 
primary payer for any urgent care provided to the eligible 
veteran under this section. 
‘‘(e) TYPES OF PROVIDERS.—The Secretary shall en-
sure that all types of urgent care providers, including local 
urgent care providers, have an opportunity to enter into 
a contract with the Secretary under this section. 
‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) The term ‘health-plan contract’ has the 
meaning given that term in section 1725(f) of this 
title. 
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