{"data":{"id":"us/38-cfr-17.1003","jurisdiction":"us","citation":"38 CFR 17.1003","heading":"Emergency transportation.","body":"Notwithstanding the provisions of § 17.1002, payment or reimbursement under 38 U.S.C. 1725 for ambulance services, including air ambulance services, may be made for transporting a veteran to a facility only if the following conditions are met:\n(a) Payment or reimbursement is authorized under 38 U.S.C. 1725 for emergency treatment provided at a non-VA facility, or payment or reimbursement would have been authorized under 38 U.S.C. 1725 for emergency treatment had:\n(1) The veteran's personal liability for the emergency treatment not been fully extinguished by payment by a third party, including under a health-plan contract, or by VA; or\n(2) Death had not occurred before emergency treatment could be provided;\n(b) The veteran is financially liable to the provider of the emergency transportation;\n(c) The veteran does not have coverage under a health-plan contract that would fully extinguish the medical liability for the emergency transportation (this condition is not met if the veteran has coverage under a health-plan contract but payment is barred because of a failure by the veteran or the provider to comply with the provisions of that health-plan contract);\n(d) If the condition for which the emergency transportation was furnished was caused by an accident or work-related injury, the claimant has exhausted without success all claims and remedies reasonably available to the veteran or provider against a third party for payment of such transportation; and the veteran has no contractual or legal recourse against a third party that could reasonably be pursued for the purpose of fully extinguishing the veteran's liability to the provider; and\n(e) If the veteran is not eligible for reimbursement for any emergency treatment expenses under 38 U.S.C. 1728.","path":["Title 38—Pensions, Bonuses, and Veterans' Relief","CHAPTER I—DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS","PART 17—MEDICAL"],"source_url":"https://www.ecfr.gov/api/versioner/v1/full/2026-08-25/title-38.xml","current_through":"2026-08-25","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-08-27T02:25:50Z","sha256":"26892bfcb7ce06e736b7e34774b03e7cbcd3af4f5a58805614cf35a5088b2db9","source_id":"us-cfr","stale":true,"prev":"us/38-cfr-17.1002","next":"us/38-cfr-17.1004"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}