(TRNS) – Rep. John Kline (R-Minn.) plans to introduce legislation when the House returns from recess in next month to halt “untimely billing practices” by the Department of Veterans Affairs, keeping the VA from belatedly charging veterans for medical care received years ago.
Kline, who sits on the House Armed Services Committee, said in a statement Thursday that he is introducing the measure in response to complaints from Minnesota and Wisconsin veterans who were billed by the VA for “co-pay amounts for impatient care” received as much as five years ago.
“We owe a great deal to those who have proudly served our nation, and they deserve more than unexpected, outdated bills because the VA failed to notify veterans of payments in a timely manner,” said Kline, a 25-year veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, said.
Under the proposed legislation, the VA Secretary would be granted the “authority to waive a co-payment requirement if the VA erred in not sending out the bill in a timely manner” and it would require the VA to “inform veterans of their rights to payment plans and waivers if the VA does not meet billing timelines.”
The House passed the VA Accountability Act of 2015 in late July that would make it easier to “remove or demote a VA employee based on performance or misconduct,” by limiting appeal rights for VA staffers facing termination or demotion and extending probationary periods of new employees.