VA Health Care: Medicare Reimbursement for Services to Veterans

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on proposals that would give the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) authority to collect Medicare reimbursement for care given to eligible veterans, focusing on the: (1) benefits VA's use of a Medicare health maintenance organization (HMO) demonstration may provide for veterans; (2) risks such a demonstration may pose for veterans; (3) ways potential benefits and risks could differ if VA served high-income, Medicare-eligible veterans using Medicare's fee-for-service model; and (4) ways potential benefits and risks could differ if VA used a Medicare HMO demonstration to serve low-income, Medicare-eligible veterans who are geographically remote from a medical facility.