As you may already know, since January 2016 I have been working with numerous State Representatives and State Senators on improving Emergency Medical Care and Services for Veterans on the state level. Although this is a Federal level issue, I feel it’s important for Massachusetts to continue to be the leading example on addressing some many important issues.
On Wednesday, October 25 at 2pm in Hearing Room B2 the Veterans and Federal Affairs committee will be hosting a Public Hearing on ‘An Act establishing emergency medical services for veterans’ – Bill H.2765. This public hearing testimonials will be shared with the committee either in person or presented in a letter. This legislation would make it so all veterans could utilize local emergency rooms for medical emergencies at no expense to the veteran. In the cases where the VA won’t pay the emergency room bill, and the veteran does not have health insurance then MassHealth would cover the cost of treatment. Not everyone who served in the military qualifies for VA Healthcare, not all veterans are eligible for VA Healthcare, and the VA is not obligated to pay for emergency room visits.
This is can be a huge stress and burden for the veteran, or hold them back from getting their medical emergency addressed because they fear having to deal with the bill. Those who do seek treatment without coverage can face bad credit for not being able to pay for the bill. This legislation will help avoid all of those issues, and will allow veterans get receive emergency medical care with no bill.
When we are in an emergency our veterans are there for us, now it’s time for us to be there for them when they are in an emergency. I feel we owe it to our veterans to have their backs when they need us most.
I am seeking veterans who would be interested in showing their support in favor of this bill with a testimony. It would be great if we could throw a lot of support behind this legislation, either by you in person to the State House and testify or provide a written testimony which would be delivered to the Committee.
I will need all written testimonials by Monday, October 23.
Please share this request and note with any veterans you may know.
Thank you!
Donald Jarvis 