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Please send the following editable message
to your Representative --
As a disabled veteran and your constituent, I urge your cosponsorship and active support
of HR 3819, the Veterans Emergency Care Fairness Act, introduced by Representative Zachary Space.
Consider the following --
When a veteran needs emergency medical treatment, the VA allows that veteran to go
to the nearest private or community hospital. Once the veteran is stabilized, the veteran must then be transferred to a VA
hospital for any necessary continued care.
The problem arises when there is a wait for a bed in a VA hospital. Current law does
not require the VA to reimburse the hospital for the care given after the point of stabilization. HR 3819 would simply close
that loophole and require the VA to reimburse the private hospital for care.
In rural areas, the problem with the current law is particularly pronounced. Often,
a patient may be deemed stable but is not necessarily stable enough to make ambulance trips traveling long distances.
More specifically, the Veterans Emergency Care Fairness Act of 2007 -
Requires (under current law, authorizes) the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to reimburse
certain veterans without a service-connected disability enrolled as active participants of the Department of Veterans Affairs
(VA) health care plan for the cost of emergency treatment received in a non-VA facility until such time as such veterans are
transferred to a VA facility.
Requires (under current law, authorizes) the Secretary to reimburse certain veterans
with a service-connected disability or a non-service-connected disability associated with or aggravating a service-connected
disability for the value of emergency treatment for which such veterans have made payment from sources other than the VA.
I again ask for your active support of HR 3819 and your cosponsorship of this legislation.
Please advise me of your intentions. | 
