Along with the Chairman of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, Poliquin Hosts Roundtable Focusing on Getting Hospitals Paid the Millions They Are Owed

BANGOR, Maine – Congressman Bruce Poliquin (ME-02) today hosted the Chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, Dr. Phil Roe (TN-01), several Maine hospital officials from across the State, Maine VA officials, federal VA officials and federal VA contractors for a roundtable at Eastern Maine Medical Center focusing on getting Maine’s hospitals paid the millions of dollars they are owed by the federal government.

Poliquin helped author major legislation, the VA MISSION Act, which was signed into law this year that will reform payment processes so Maine hospitals are paid promptly and Veterans can get health care closer to home.

“Our hospitals across our state, especially in our most rural areas, provide essential services for our families and communities,” said Congressman Poliquin. “There is no excuse for our hospitals to bear the burden of millions of dollars of backlog that the federal government owes them for critical services to our Veterans, which is why I’ve worked so hard to get that money paid back. On the Veterans Affairs Committee, I also pushed for a provision to be included in the landmark Veterans bill that was made law earlier this year—the VA MISSION Act—that will make reforms to the payment processes and help prevent these backlogs from occurring again.

“Making sure our hospitals are paid the millions they’re owed will not only allow us to maintain health care services for our Veterans closer to home, but it will also pour in needed funding to our hospitals and keep them open and serving our communities.”

House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman, Phil Roe, said, “This Congress over two dozen veterans bills have been signed into law, and—whether he’s advocating for more options for care for veterans or ensuring VA pays rural hospitals in a timely manner—Congressman Poliquin’s steadfast commitment to veterans has been an invaluable asset to the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. It was a privilege to join Bruce in Maine today and hear firsthand from Mainers about their experiences with VA.”

Background:

Hospitals across Maine are owed millions of dollars from the federal government for frontloading the costs to treat Veterans who use the VA Choice Program, a program which enables Maine Veterans to access care closer to home. The major issue is that the federal government has been delinquent in their reimbursements, putting pressure on Maine’s hospitals, especially those in rural areas.

Congressman Poliquin has been working to (1) get the hospitals the money they are owed, and (2) pass reforms to the reimbursement processes so the problem does not happen in the future. Much of this work has been done through his integral involvement on the Veterans Affairs’ Committee.

This year, the VA MISSION Act was signed into law, which included a portion that specifically addresses the hospital payment processes, making reforms so that hospitals are paid promptly and any outstanding payments incur interest.

A Special Announcement at Dysart’s:

Earlier in the morning, Congressman Poliquin hosted a breakfast at Dysart’s on Broadway in Bangor for several Veterans to meet and talk with him and Chairman Roe. During the breakfast, Congressman Poliquin presented Joy Asuncion, a retired Navy Senior Chief, with the medals earned and never received by her late father, Private First Class John Robert Lewis, a World War II Army Veteran.

Lewis was drafted and served from Winter 1943 to Spring 1946 with the 464th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion in China, Burma, and India. Lewis’ personnel records were destroyed in a 1973 fire, but Congressman Poliquin’s office was thankfully still able to obtain these medals.

The Rural Hospitals Caucus:

Earlier this year, Congressman Poliquin founded the bipartisan Congressional Rural Hospitals Caucus, which focuses on ways Congress can help support rural hospitals across the nation and which is growing in membership.