Financial Relief for Civilians Treated at Military Hospitals Act

Bill: 117-s-5173
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Warren, Elizabeth [D-MA]
Introduced: 2022-12-01
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Latest action: action_date: 2022-12-01
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.

Summaries:
action_date: 2022-12-01
action_desc: Introduced in Senate
text: <p><b>Financial Relief for Civilians Treated at Military Hospitals Act</b></p> <p>This bill prohibits the Department of Defense (or the military departments) from attempting to collect a debt owed by a civilian not covered under TRICARE for certain emergency medical treatment at a military medical treatment facility. The bill also prohibits a military medical treatment facility from charging any fee for certain emergency medical treatment provided to a civilian who is not covered under TRICARE, or a third-party payer of such civilian (e.g., Medicare).</p>

tv_txt: II 117th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 5173 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES December 1, 2022 Ms. Warren introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services A BILL To amend title 31 and title 10, United States Code, to address claims of the United States Government relating to certain treatment received by civilians at military medical treatment facilities, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Financial Relief for Civilians Treated at Military Hospitals Act . 2. Debt arising from treatment at military medical treatment facilities Section 3711 of title 31, United States Code, is amended— (1) in subsection (g)(2)— (A) in subparagraph (A)(v), by striking and at the end; (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period at the end and inserting ; and ; and (C) by adding at the end the following: (C) to any debt or claim described in subsection (j). ; and (2) by adding at the end the following: (j) The Secretary of Defense or the Secretary of a military department (as defined in section 101 of title 10) may not take an action under subsection (a) to collect a claim arising from covered treatment (as defined in section 1079b(b) of that title) provided at a military medical treatment facility to a civilian who is not a covered beneficiary (as defined in section 1072 of that title). . 3. Limitation on fees charged to civilians for emergency medical treatment provided at military medical treatment facilities Section 1079b of title 10, United States Code, is amended— (1) by redesignating subsections (b) and (c) as subsections (c) and (d), respectively; and (2) by inserting after subsection (a) the following new subsection (b): (b) Limitation on fees for certain treatment (1) Under the procedures developed under subsection (a), a military medical treatment facility may not charge a civilian who is not a covered beneficiary, or a third-party payer of such civilian, any fee for covered treatment provided to such civilian at such facility. (2) In this subsection: (A) The term covered treatment , with respect to treatment provided to a civilian at a military medical treatment facility, means treatment provided for a medical emergency or in connection with an emergency inpatient admission. (B) The terms emergency inpatient admission and medical emergency have the meanings given those terms in section 199.2 of title 32, Code of Federal Regulations, or successor regulations. (C) The term third-party payer means— (i) an entity described in section 1095(h)(1) of this title; (ii) the Medicare program under title XVIII of the Social Security Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1395 et seq. ); or (iii) the Medicaid program under title XIX of such Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq. ). .