VA often errs in billing vets, groups say - Marine Corps News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Marine Corps Times

VA often errs in billing vets, groups say

More aggressive billing of private insurers for health care received at veterans hospitals and clinics may be a way to cut costs — but it’s also fraught with errors, a House subcommittee was warned Tuesday.

Blake Ortner, a legislative aide with Paralyzed Veterans of America, said if Congress and the Obama administration “are going to continue to rely on massive collections estimates and dollars actually collected to support the VA health care budget, then serious examination of how VA is achieving these numbers is necessary.”

According to 2011 budget documents, the Veterans Affairs Department collected $2.7 billion from private insurers or veterans in 2009 and expects to collect $3.3 billion in 2011 and $3.6 billion in 2012.

Ortner said PVA, an organization that focuses on service members with spinal cord injuries, “continues to be seriously concerned about reports of VA’s continued inappropriate billing of ... veterans for service-connected injuries as well as nonservice-connected veterans being billed multiple times for the same treatment.”

The problem, he said, is that many veterans pay the charges. The association “believes that many veterans are not aware of these mistakes and simply submit full payment to VA when a billing statement arrives at their home,” he said.

“Inappropriate charges for VA medical services place unnecessary financial stress on individual veterans and their families,” he said in testimony before the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee’s health panel. “These inaccurate charges are not easily remedied, and their occurrence places the burden for correction directly on the veteran, their families or caregivers.”

The national commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars raised similar concerns in early February when the Obama administration released its 2011 budget plan.

Glen Gardner Jr., a Vietnam veteran, said he worries that increased collections from veterans’ private health insurance will result in higher premiums and fees for veterans if insurance companies try to pass along the costs — which means veterans would end up subsidizing their own injuries.

Gardner also said veterans might have problems getting private insurance for themselves and their families, and employers might be reluctant to hire veterans if companies fear that they may end up paying higher insurance costs.