Released 9/19/19 at Stars & Stripes | Tags: Class Actions, Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, Veteran's Benefits
WASHINGTON — A federal court ruled Tuesday that the Department of Veterans Affairs wrongly denied reimbursements for some veterans who received emergency medical treatment at non-VA facilities — a ruling that could cost the agency billions of dollars.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims approved the case, Wolfe v. Wilkie, as a class action and ordered the VA to reimburse the affected veterans. Attorneys for the plaintiffs in the case, citing past VA estimates, said the agency would be responsible for paying anywhere between $1.8 billion and $6.5 billion to hundreds of thousands of veterans.