Proper and Reimbursed Care for Native Veterans Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. HUFFMAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 6237) to amend the Indian Health Care Improvement Act to clarify the requirement of the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense to reimburse the Indian Health Service for certain health care services, as amended.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 6237

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Proper and Reimbursed Care for Native Veterans Act'' or the ``PRC for Native Veterans Act''. SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION OF REQUIREMENT OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS AND DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE TO REIMBURSE INDIAN HEALTH SERVICE FOR CERTAIN HEALTH CARE SERVICES.

Section 405(c) of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (25 U.S.C. 1645) is amended by inserting before the period at the end the following: ``, regardless of whether such services are provided directly by the Service, an Indian tribe, or tribal organization, through purchased/referred care, or through a contract for travel described in section 213(b)''.

Mr. Speaker, the bill before us, H.R. 6237, is the PRC for Native Veterans Act, introduced by our colleague from Arizona, Representative Gallego. This bill will ensure that Native veterans can access high- quality healthcare regardless of the system where they choose to seek it.

Providing for the healthcare of our veterans should be one of our top priorities, including the care of approximately 150,000 Native veterans who have served our country.

By law, a Native veteran is eligible to receive services under both the VA and Indian Health Service. They can choose which one of those to use at any given time.

In instances where a Native veteran is eligible for a particular healthcare service from both the VA and IHS, the VA is considered the primary payer. As such, the VA reimburses IHS and Tribal facilities for any direct care they provide.

Here is the problem that sometimes arises: It is with the Purchased/ Referred Care Program, known as PRC. IHS and Tribal facilities are not always able to directly provide all of the necessary health services a Tribal member may need, and in order to bridge that gap, the PRC program was created. It authorizes the purchase of services from a network of private providers when care is not available at IHS or Tribal facilities.

During the permanent reauthorization of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act, Congress amended section 405(c) of that law to require the VA to reimburse IHS and Tribes for health services provided under that PRC program.

But the VA now claims that this language does not statutorily require them to reimburse specialty and referral services through IHS or Tribal facilities. The VA, instead, insists that the referral must come from them.

That creates problems. It means that the Native veterans who arrive at IHS or Tribal facilities needing specialty care are often forced to travel extreme distances to the nearest VA just to get a redundant primary care visit and a referral.

These extra steps cause significant hardship for many Native veterans and can delay critical care. The result is that many IHS and Tribal facilities are referring Native veterans out for specialty care and then just paying for it themselves with their already meager PRC fund so that the patient can be treated in a timely and competent manner.

This bill clarifies that the VA is responsible for reimbursing IHS and Tribes for any specialty care provided through a referral by an IHS or Tribal facility.

I think we can all agree our Native veterans should have timely access to the quality of care they need no matter where they choose to access it.

I want to thank Representative Gallego for championing this bipartisan legislation on behalf of all Native veterans, and I urge its quick adoption.

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Mr. HUFFMAN. Mr. Speaker, I request an ``aye'' vote, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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