HR 1644 — Copay Fairness for Veterans Act

Summary

Eliminates copayments for medications that are part of preventive health services furnished by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Eliminates copayments for veterans receiving hospital care and medical services classified as preventive health services.
Defines preventive health services to include evidence-based items or services rated 'A' or 'B' by the United States Preventive Services Task Force.
Includes immunizations recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices in the definition of preventive health services.
Includes all contraceptives approved by the Food and Drug Administration, related contraceptive care, and services consistent with Health Resources and Services Administration guidelines as preventive health services for women.

AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.

Sponsor (1)

Rep. Underwood, Lauren (D-IL) [#14]

5 cosponsors

Del. Norton, Eleanor Holmes (D-DC) [At-large]
Rep. Hayes, Jahana (D-CT) [#5]
Rep. Matsui, Doris O. (D-CA) [#7]
Rep. Moulton, Seth (D-MA) [#6]
Rep. Ramirez, Delia C. (D-IL) [#3]

Money behind the sponsor

Top reported contributors to Lauren Underwood’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.

UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO $33,465
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY $26,150
BLUE SHIELD OF CALIFORNIA $18,100
CORNERSTONE GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS $16,800
CLIFFORD LAW OFFICES $13,200

Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Lauren Underwood → · Outside spending →

Actions (5)

Mar 25, 2025 Forwarded by Subcommittee to Full Committee by Voice Vote. · house
Mar 25, 2025 Subcommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held · house
Mar 10, 2025 Referred to the Subcommittee on Health. · house
Feb 27, 2025 Referred to the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs. · house
Feb 27, 2025 Introduced in House

More bills on these subjects (8)

Other bills that carry the most legislative subjects in common with this one (topical discovery — distinct from the procedural related bills above).

Similar bills (6)

Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.

Text versions (1)

Introduced in House · Feb 27, 2025

Only one text version is on file, so there’s no earlier version to compare against yet.

Full text

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

February 27, 2025

Ms. Underwood (for herself, Mr. Moulton, Mrs. Hayes, and Ms. Norton) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs

A BILL

To amend title 38, United States Code, to eliminate copayments by the Department of Veterans Affairs for medicines relating to preventive health services, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the “Copay Fairness for Veterans Act”.

SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENT TO PREVENTIVE HEALTH SERVICES FURNISHED BY DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.

(a) Elimination of Medication Copayments.—Section 1722A(a)(3) of title 38, United States Code, is amended—

(1) in subparagraph (C), by striking “or”;

(2) in subparagraph (D), by striking the period at the end and inserting “; or”; and

(3) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:

“(E) to medication that is or is part of a preventive health service.”.

(b) Elimination of Hospital Care and Medical Services Copayments.— Section 1710 of such title is amended—

(1) in subsection (f)—

(A) by redesignating paragraph (5) as paragraph

(6); and

(B) by inserting after paragraph (4) the following new paragraph (5):

“(5) A veteran shall not be liable to the United States under this subsection for any amounts for preventive health services.”; and

(2) in subsection (g)(3), by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:

“(C) Preventive health services.”.

(c) Definition.—Section 1701(9) of such title is amended—

(1) in subparagraph (K), by striking “; and” and inserting a semicolon;

(2) by redesignating subparagraph (L) as subparagraph (O); and

(3) by inserting after subparagraph (K) the following new subparagraphs:

“(L) evidence-based items or services that have in effect a rating of ‘A’ or ‘B’ in the current recommendations of the United States Preventive Services Task Force;

“(M) immunizations that have in effect a recommendation from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with respect to the individual involved;

“(N) with respect to services for women—

“(i) the preventive care, screenings, and contraceptives provided for in the Health Resources and Services Administration Preventive Services Guidelines in effect as of December 30, 2022; and

“(ii) any contraceptive approved, granted, or cleared by the Food and Drug Administration, any related contraceptive care, and any related services; and”. <all>

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