Bipartisan legislation written by U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson to help veterans and their famlies afford health care has cleared the U.S. Senate and is on its way to President Barack Obama.

The president is expected to sign the bill, Thompson said.

Thompson, a Napa Democrat, is Benicia’s representative in the U.S. House.

His bill is called the Help Veterans Save for Health Care Act, and was was co-authored by U.S. Rep. Sam Johnson, a Texas Republican from Plano.

It was passed as part of House of Representatives Bill 3236, the Surface Transportation and Veterans Health Care Choice Improvement Act of 2015, Thompson said.

After Obama signs the legislation, it will allow veterans who have supplemental health care coverage and who also receive Veterans Administration (VA) care for a service-connected disability to enroll or participate in a Health Savings Account (HSA).

Under the Internal Revenue Service’s current rules, veterans and their families are prohibited from making or receiving contributions to a HSA for three months after receiving health care services through the Veterans Administration for a service-connected disability, Thompson explained.

A HSA is a tool to help individuals and families to save and pay for health care expenses, he said.

Thompson said it wasn’t fair to exclude veterans and families from access to that tool.

As an example, he said, a veteran with a service-connected disability may be enrolled in an employer-sponsored health plan with an HSA that provides health insurance coverage for the family.

Under current IRS regulations, the veteran would be barred from participating in his or her HSA for three months after receiving care at the VA for a service-connected disability, even if that HSA is used to cover out-of-pocket health care costs for non-VA care and for their spouse or children, Thompson said.

That will change once Obama signs Thompson’s legislation.

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