Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Following Court Ruling, VA Could Be On The Hook For Billions In Emergency Care Claims From Veterans
The Associated Press: VA May Have To Pay Billions In Vets' Emergency Care Bills
The government may be required to pay billions of dollars in emergency care claims to veterans after a federal court ruled this week that the Department of Veterans Affairs improperly denied reimbursements for such care received at non-VA facilities. The ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims said federal law mandated the VA to pay the emergency medical expenses if they are not covered by private insurance. (9/11)
NBC News: Court Rules VA Must Pay For Veterans' Emergency Room Care, A Decision That May Be Worth Billions
"All of this is unacceptable," said the ruling, which ordered the VA secretary to "readjudicate these reimbursement claims." Plaintiffs' lawyers say that based on past estimates by the VA, the department is now on the hook for between $1.8 billion and $6.5 billion in reimbursements to hundreds of thousands of veterans who have filed or will file claims between 2016 and 2025. (Kube, Gains and Kaplan, 9/10)
In other veterans' health care news —
USA Today: Patient Deaths At Veterans Affairs Hospital Draw More Scrutiny
A lawyer representing relatives of patients who died at a Veterans Affairs hospital in West Virginia said investigators contacted three more families, indicating a federal probe into about 10 suspicious deaths is expanding. The VA's Office of Inspector General has been looking into the deaths at Louis A. Johnson VA Medical Center in Clarksburg, West Virginia. At least two of those deaths were reclassified as homicides after the bodies were exhumed. The elderly patients received insulin injections they did not need, causing their blood sugar to plummet. They died one day apart in April 2018. (Alltucker, 9/10)
The Associated Press: VA Investigating Sexual Assaults At West Virginia Hospital
Federal authorities are investigating allegations of sexual assaults at a Veterans Affairs hospital in West Virginia. The VA inspector general issued a statement this week saying the office is working with federal law enforcement to look into multiple assaults at the Beckley VA Medical Center. Hospital spokeswoman Sara Yoke says an “individual” was fired in response to the allegations but she didn’t release the person’s identity or job title. (Izaguirre, 9/11)
