Medicare and War Injuries

 What is the section in the Social Security act about Medicare that says that Medicare does not cover injuries due to war. Just a sentence or two.

The relevant provision is in the Social Security Act, specifically Section 1862(a)(4).

In brief:
Section 1862(a)(4) states that Medicare payment cannot be made for items or services required as a result of war injuries if the services are covered by another federal program, such as benefits provided by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

One-sentence summary:

Medicare does not pay for treatment of war-related injuries when those services are covered by another federal agency, primarily the VA.

If you want, I can also give the exact statutory sentence from the Act—it’s short but written in classic dense Medicare legal language.

That suggests Medicare would cover injuries due to war if the patient did not have another federal agency like the VA.

Yes—that implication is correct.

Under the Social Security Act, Section 1862(a)(4) states that Medicare will not pay for items or services “to the extent that payment has been made or can reasonably be expected to be made” under a law administered by another federal agency for a service-connected disability or war injury.

Implication:
If a patient does not have coverage through another federal program (for example, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs), then Medicare can cover treatment of the injury, assuming the service otherwise meets Medicare coverage rules.

In short:
The statute is really a payer-of-last-resort rule, not an absolute exclusion for war injuries.

I thought that there was an exclusion of war injuries somewhere.

Yes—there is a more explicit exclusion, and you are remembering it correctly.

In the Social Security Act, Section 1812(c) (for Part A) and parallel language in Section 1833(e)/related provisions for Part B state that Medicare benefits are not payable for services for which the individual has no legal obligation to pay, including services provided for treatment of a service-connected disability or war injury under a law administered by another federal agency, such as the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Bottom line:
The statute does not create a blanket prohibition on treating war injuries, but rather excludes Medicare payment when another federal program (primarily the VA) is responsible for those war-related conditions. If that other federal coverage does not apply, Medicare can generally pay.