I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 874 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to ensure that certain veterans 

receive in-patient psychiatric care provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 6, 2017 

Mr. LOEBSACK (for himself, Mr. STIVERS, Mrs. BUSTOS, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mr. WEBER of Texas, Mr. LOBIONDO, Mr. 

HIMES, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. BARLETTA, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. LIPINSKI, 

Mr. O’ROURKE, Mr. MCCAUL, Mr. THOMAS J. ROONEY of Florida, Mr. 

QUIGLEY, Mr. OLSON, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. DELANEY, Mr. GARAMENDI, 

Mr. SABLAN, Mr. CURBELO of Florida, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. JONES, Mr. 

COOPER, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. DENHAM, Mr. GIBBS, Mr. YOUNG of Alaska, 

Mr. CA ́RDENAS, Mr. VALADAO, Mr. KING of New York, Mr. PAULSEN, 

Mrs. RADEWAGEN, Mr. VELA, Ms. SHEA-PORTER, Mr. SOTO, Ms. 

GABBARD, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, Mr. EMMER, Mr. GOODLATTE, Mr. 

SWALWELL of California, and Mr. KATKO) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to ensure that certain veterans receive in-patient psychiatric care provided 

by the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Sgt. Brandon Ketchum 

3 Never Again Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. PROVISION OF IN-PATIENT PSYCHIATRIC CARE FOR 

5 VETERANS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 17 of title 38, United 

7 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 1720H 

8 the following new section: 

9 ‘‘§ 1720I. Provision of in-patient psychiatric care 

10 ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT TO FURNISH CARE.—Except as 

11 provided by subsection (b), upon the request of a covered 

12 veteran, the Secretary shall furnish, or continue to fur13 nish, to the covered veteran in-patient psychiatric care at 

14 the facility of the Department that— 

15 ‘‘(1) is closest to where the veteran resides; and 

16 ‘‘(2) has the capacity and capability to provide 

17 such care. 

18 ‘‘(b) NON-DEPARTMENT FACILITIES.—(1) If the 

19 Secretary determines, on a case-by-case basis, that a facil20 ity of the Department does not have the capability or ca21 pacity to furnish in-patient psychiatric care to a covered 

22 veteran pursuant to subsection (a), the Secretary shall 

23 furnish such care to such veteran at a non-Department 

24 facility. 

25 ‘‘(2) For purposes of determining the rates of reim26 bursement for a non-Department facility that furnishes inVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 Feb 13, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H874.IH H874

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1 patient psychiatric care pursuant to paragraph (1), the 

2 Secretary shall treat such non-Department facility as a 

3 health care provider being reimbursed pursuant to section 

4 101(d)(2) of the Veterans Access, Choice, and Account5 ability Act of 2014 (Public Law 113–146). 

6 ‘‘(c) COVERED VETERAN DEFINED.—In this section, 

7 the term ‘covered veteran’ means a veteran who is— 

8 ‘‘(1) enrolled in the health care system estab9 lished under section 1705(a) of this title; and 

10 ‘‘(2) entitled to in-patient psychiatric care fur11 nished by the Secretary under this chapter.’’. 

12 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

13 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting 

14 after the item relating to section 1720H the following new 

15 item: 

‘‘1720I. Provision of in-patient psychiatric care.’’. 

Æ 


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