Grand Prairie insurance attorneys need to know how subrogation and liens work as it relates to insurance claims. One of these interests to be aware of is the Veterans Administration rights to recover money they spend on behalf of their members.
The reimbursement rights of the Veterans’ Administration are statutory, and are set forth the United States 4th Circuit Court of Appeals case styled, United States v. Maryland. It is a 1990 case. It says that “Federal law pertaining to veterans benefits places the United States on an equal footing with private hospitals in its attempts to recover from third parties the cost of medical services provided veterans for non-service related injuries.” Such equality is ensured by 38 U.S.C. Section 629(a)(1), which provides:
“In any case in which a veteran is furnished care or services under this chapter for a non-service connected disability … the United States has the right to recover or collect the reasonable cost of such care or services … from a third party to the extent that the veteran (or the provider of the care or services) would be eligible to receive payment for such care or services from such third party if the care or services had not been furnished by a department or agency of the United States.”