Original cosponsor of legislation currently pending in the Senate

(Washington DC) – Today the Senate voted to approve an amendment offered by Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) along with Senators Dean Heller (R-NV) and Chris Coons (D-DE) that adjusts current eligibility requirements for children who receive health care under the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA). Senator Heller is an original cosponsor of similar legislation introduced along with Senator Tester earlier this year.

The amendment allows children who are CHAMPVA beneficiaries to stay on the plan until they are 26, equal to the eligibility requirements for non-CHAMPVA beneficiaries under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. 

“Allowing young people to remain on their parents’ insurance for just a few more years gives them flexibility to start a new job or continue their education – additional flexibility that is extremely valuable at a time when jobs are hard to find. It makes no sense that the only children who do not have the benefit of extended health care coverage are the children of men and women who have sacrificed the greatest. I’m grateful to Senator Tester for his leadership on this issue,” said Senator Dean Heller.

CHAMPVA is a health insurance program offered through the Department of Veterans Affairs that provides coverage for certain eligible dependents and survivors of veterans rated permanently and totally disabled from a service-connected condition. Once a veteran becomes VA-rated permanently and totally disabled for a service-connected disability, the veteran's spouse and dependents are then eligible to enroll in CHAMPVA.

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