VA can't collect old copayment bills if it dropped the ball on notice
H.R. 3812 — STRIVE Act of 2025 · Filed by Adam Gray (D-CA) · 8 cosponsors · Introduced Jun 6, 2025 · Reported out
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What it does
This bill prohibits the VA from collecting health care copayments from veterans if the VA fails to notify them of the copayment within established timeliness standards, or if the total owed exceeds $2,000 (adjusted annually for inflation). It also grants the VA Secretary discretionary authority to waive copayments entirely when deemed appropriate. The bill protects veterans from retroactive billing for care they received years earlier when they were not properly notified.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core function is to shield veterans from retroactive copayment collection by the VA when the agency fails to provide timely notice. It is a consumer-protection measure specific to the veteran population and VA billing practices.
What the text implies
- The $2,000 threshold may create a perverse incentive for the VA to bill veterans in amounts just under $2,000 to avoid the prohibition, fragmenting copayment obligations.
- The Secretary's discretionary waiver authority is unlimited and unguided by statute, potentially creating inconsistent treatment of similarly situated veterans depending on administrative discretion.
- The two-year statute of repose for copayment collection may incentivize the VA to delay billing until just before the deadline, concentrating collection efforts and creating cash-flow volatility for veterans.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Veterans gain a concrete protection: the VA cannot collect copayments for care received if proper notice was not given within reasonable timeframes, and aggregate amounts over $2,000 are uncollectable. This prevents surprise retroactive billing and shifts accountability to the VA to notify veterans promptly. The waiver authority also provides discretionary relief for hardship cases.
Named in the bill
Department of Veterans Affairs, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Veterans, Consumer Price Index
Where it stands
8 cosponsors: 8 Democrats.
- Jun 6, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jun 6, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Veterans' Affairs · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs”
- Jul 23, 2025 — Markup held in committee · Congress.gov: “Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held”
- Jul 23, 2025 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by Voice Vote”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
1 lobbying clients named this bill on 2 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $310,451 in lobbying spend. A filing names 170 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 0% of bills with at least one filing.
Adam Gray, the sponsor, reported $1,352,141 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- Disabled American Veterans — $310,451 on 2 filings
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 21, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (2,704 characters) on Jul 25, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 21, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
“VA can't collect old copayment bills if it dropped the ball on notice” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/hr3812 Report an error
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