The eRulemaking Program
05/08/2026 | Press release | Archived content
Waiver of Charges for Copayments; Withdrawal (AS25)
DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
38 CFR Part 17
[Docket No. VA-2024-VHA-0031]
RIN 2900-AS25
Updates to Waiver of Charges for Copayments
AGENCY:
Department of Veterans Affairs.
ACTION:
Proposed rule; withdrawal.
SUMMARY:
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is withdrawing a document published in the Federal Register on December 17, 2024, that requested public comment on VA's proposal to revise its medical regulations to allow VA to initiate a waiver request for debt accumulated from health care copayments on behalf of veterans in certain circumstances and to remove the requirement that veterans submit VA Form 5655 when seeking a waiver of copayment debt. VA is withdrawing the proposed rule because VA has determined the proposed regulation is no longer necessary.
DATES:
The proposed rule published at 89 FR 102031 on December 17, 2024, is withdrawn as of May 8, 2026.
ADDRESSES:
The docket for this withdrawn proposed rule is available at www.regulations.gov/docket/VA-2024-VHA-0031.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Kevin Johnson, Director, Revenue Operations, Office of Finance, Veterans Health Administration, (562) 480-2890.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
In a document published in the Federal Register on December 17, 2024, VA proposed to revise its medical regulations to allow VA to initiate a waiver request for debt accumulated from health care copayments on behalf of veterans in certain circumstances and to remove the requirement that veterans submit VA Form 5655 when seeking a waiver of copayment debt.
On November 20, 2025, VA announced it would relieve veterans of more than $272 million in potential medical bills that accrued when certain copayment claims processing and collections stopped in early 2023, including the copayments giving rise to this rulemaking. (1) Therefore, VA is withdrawing the proposed rule because it is no longer necessary.
Signing Authority
Douglas A. Collins, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, approved this document on April 20, 2026, and authorized the undersigned to sign and submit the document to the Office of the Federal Register for publication electronically as an official document of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Gabriela DeCuir,
Alternate Federal Register Liaison Officer, Department of Veterans Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2026-09144 Filed 5-7-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8320-01-P
Footnotes
(1) https://news.va.gov/press-room/va-provides-veterans-relief-from-biden-era-backlogged-medical-bills/ (last accessed December 3, 2025).
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