(a) The Secretary may, under such regulations as the Secretary shall prescribe, reimburse veterans entitled to hospital care or medical services under this chapter for the reasonable value of such care or services (including travel and incidental expenses under the terms and conditions set forth in section
111 of this title), for which such veterans have made payment, from sources other than the Department, where
(1) such care or services were rendered in a medical emergency of such nature that delay would have been hazardous to life or health;
(2) such care or services were rendered to a veteran in need thereof
(A) for an adjudicated service-connected disability,
(B) for a non-service-connected disability associated with and held to be aggravating a service-connected disability,
(C) for any disability of a veteran who has a total disability permanent in nature from a service-connected disability, or
(D) for any illness, injury, or dental condition in the case of a veteran who
(i) is a participant in a vocational rehabilitation program (as defined in section
3101 (9) of this title), and
(ii) is medically determined to have been in need of care or treatment to make possible such veterans entrance into a course of training, or prevent interruption of a course of training, or hasten the return to a course of training which was interrupted because of such illness, injury, or dental condition; and
(3) Department or other Federal facilities were not feasibly available, and an attempt to use them beforehand would not have been reasonable, sound, wise, or practical.
(b) In any case where reimbursement would be in order under subsection (a) of this section, the Secretary may, in lieu of reimbursing such veteran, make payment of the reasonable value of care or services directly
(1) to the hospital or other health facility furnishing the care or services; or
(2) to the person or organization making such expenditure on behalf of such veteran.
