§ 17.1004 - Filing claims.

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§ 17.1004 Filing claims.

(a) A claimant for payment or reimbursement under 38 U.S.C. 1725 must be the entity that furnished the treatment, the veteran who paid for the treatment, or the person or organization that paid for such treatment on behalf of the veteran.

(b) To obtain payment or reimbursement for emergency treatment under 38 U.S.C. 1725, a claimant must submit to the VA medical facility of jurisdiction a completed standard billing form (such as a UB92 or a CMS 1500). Where the form used does not contain a false claims notice, the completed form must also be accompanied by a signed, written statement declaring that “I hereby certify that this claim meets all of the conditions for payment by VA for emergency medical services under 38 CFR 17.1002 (except for paragraph (e)) and 17.1003. I am aware that 38 U.S.C. 6102(b) provides that one who obtains payment without being entitled to it and with intent to defraud the United States shall be fined in accordance with title 18, United States Code, or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.”

Note to § 17.1004(b):

These regulations regarding payment or reimbursement for emergency services for nonservice-connected conditions in non-VA facilities also can be found on the internet at http://www.va.gov/health/elig.

(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (b) of this section, no specific form is required for a claimant (or duly authorized representative) to claim payment or reimbursement for emergency transportation charges under 38 U.S.C. 1725. The claimant need only submit a signed and dated request for such payment or reimbursement to the VA medical facility of jurisdiction, together with a bill showing the services provided and charges for which the veteran is personally liable and a signed statement explaining who requested such transportation services and why they were necessary.

(d) To receive payment or reimbursement for emergency services, a claimant must file a claim within 90 days after the latest of the following:

(1) The date that the veteran was discharged from the facility that furnished the emergency treatment;

(2) The date of death, but only if the death occurred during transportation to a facility for emergency treatment or if the death occurred during the stay in the facility that included the provision of the emergency treatment; or

(3) The date the veteran finally exhausted, without success, action to obtain payment or reimbursement for the treatment from a third party.

(e) If after reviewing a claim the decisionmaker determines that additional information is needed to make a determination regarding the claim, such official will contact the claimant in writing and request additional information. The additional information must be submitted to the decisionmaker within 30 days of receipt of the request or the claim will be treated as abandoned, except that if the claimant within the 30-day period requests in writing additional time, the time period for submission of the information may be extended as reasonably necessary for the requested information to be obtained.

(f) Notwithstanding paragraph (d) of this section, VA will provide retroactive payment or reimbursement for emergency treatment received by the veteran, on or after February 1, 2010 but more than 90 days before February 22, 2023, if the claimant was eligible for partial payment from a health-plan contract for the emergency treatment and the claimant files a claim for reimbursement no later than 1 year after February 22, 2023.

(The Office of Management and Budget has approved the information collection requirements in this section under control number 2900–0620)

[66 FR 36470, July 12, 2001, as amended at 68 FR 3404, Jan. 24, 2003; 77 FR 23617, Apr. 20, 2012; 84 FR 26307, June 5, 2019; 88 FR 10841, Feb. 22, 2023]