I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2767 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to provide for eating disorders 

treatment for members and certain former members of the uniformed 

services, and dependents of such members, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 15, 2019 

Mr. MOULTON (for himself and Mr. MAST) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to provide for eating 

disorders treatment for members and certain former 

members of the uniformed services, and dependents of 

such members, and for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Supporting Eating dis5 orders Recovery through Vital Expansion Act’’ or the 

6 ‘‘SERVE Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Eating disorders affect approximately 

2 30,000,000 Americans, including individuals from 

3 every age, gender, body size, race, and socioeconomic 

4 status. 

5 (2) Eating disorders include anorexia nervosa, 

6 bulimia nervosa, binge-eating disorder, avoidant/re7 strictive intake disorder, and Other Specified Feed8 ing or Eating Disorders. 

9 (3) Eating disorders result in the highest mor10 tality rate of any psychiatric illness, and the suicide 

11 rate for individuals with such disorders is 23 percent 

12 higher than the suicide rate for the general popu13 lation. 

14 (4) Research demonstrates that— 

15 (A) eating disorders often co-occur with 

16 complex medical conditions, mental illnesses, 

17 and substance use disorders; and 

18 (B) up to 35 percent of individuals with a 

19 substance use disorder have a co-occurring eat20 ing disorder. 

21 (5) Studies indicate that there is a higher prev22 alence of eating disorders among members of the 

23 Armed Forces and veterans than among the general 

24 population. 


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1 (6) Family members of members of the Armed 

2 Forces have a higher prevalence of eating disorders 

3 than the general population, with 20 percent of chil4 dren of members of the Armed Forces found at risk 

5 of developing an eating disorder. 

6 (7) Research has found a significant relation7 ship between eating disorders and members of the 

8 Armed Forces and veterans with a history of post9 traumatic stress and sexual trauma. 

10 (8) Female members of the Armed Forces have 

11 a particularly high risk for an eating disorder, as 

12 studies have found that 16 percent of such members 

13 have an eating disorder and 34 percent of such 

14 members are at risk of developing an eating dis15 order. 

16 SEC. 3. EATING DISORDERS TREATMENT FOR DEPEND17 ENTS. 

18 Section 1077 of title 10, United States Code, is 

19 amended— 

20 (1) in subsection (a)(5), by inserting ‘‘, includ21 ing, in accordance with subsection (i), eating dis22 orders’’ after ‘‘chronic conditions’’; and 

23 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub24 section: 


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1 ‘‘(i)(1) The provision of health care services for an 

2 eating disorder under subsection (a)(5) shall include treat3 ment at facilities providing the following hospital-based or 

4 freestanding services: 

5 ‘‘(A) Inpatient services. 

6 ‘‘(B) Residential services. 

7 ‘‘(C) Partial hospitalization services. 

8 ‘‘(D) Intensive outpatient services. 

9 ‘‘(E) Outpatient services. 

10 ‘‘(2) A dependent may be provided health care serv11 ices for an eating disorder under subsection (a)(5) without 

12 regard to— 

13 ‘‘(A) the age of the dependent; and 

14 ‘‘(B) whether the dependent has a primary di15 agnosis of such disorder. 

16 ‘‘(3) In this section, the term ‘eating disorder’ has 

17 the meaning given that term in the Diagnostic and Statis18 tical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (or suc19 cessor edition), published by the American Psychiatric As20 sociation.’’. 

21 SEC. 4. IDENTIFICATION AND TREATMENT OF EATING DIS22 ORDERS FOR MEMBERS OF THE ARMED 

23 FORCES. 

24 Section 1090 of title 10, United States Code, is 

25 amended— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘The Secretary of Defense’’ and 

2 inserting the following: 

3 ‘‘(a) IDENTIFICATION AND TREATMENT OF EATING

4 DISORDERS AND DRUG AND ALCOHOL DEPENDENCE.— 

5 The Secretary of Defense’’; 

6 (2) by inserting ‘‘have an eating disorder or’’ 

7 before ‘‘are dependent on drugs or alcohol’’; and 

8 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub9 sections: 

10 ‘‘(b) FACILITIES AVAILABLE TO INDIVIDUALS WITH

11 EATING DISORDERS.—For purposes of this section, ‘nec12 essary facilities’ described in subsection (a) shall include 

13 the facilities described in section 1077(i)(1). 

14 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBILITY FOR TREATMENT.—The Secretary 

15 of Defense, and the Secretary of Homeland Security with 

16 respect to the Coast Guard when it is not operating as 

17 a service in the Navy, may not deny a member of the 

18 armed forces treatment for an eating disorder on the basis 

19 that such disorder is not the primary diagnosis of such 

20 member. 

21 ‘‘(d) EATING DISORDER DEFINED.—In this section, 

22 the term ‘eating disorder’ has the meaning given that term 

23 in section 1077(i)(3).’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. MENTAL HEALTH EARLY IDENTIFICATION TRAIN2 ING. 

3 Section 1090a of title 10, United States Code, is 

4 amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (b)— 

6 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para7 graph (1); 

8 (B) by striking the period and inserting ‘‘; 

9 and’’ at the end of paragraph (2); and 

10 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

11 paragraph: 

12 ‘‘(3) encourage commanders and supervisory 

13 personnel to undertake mental health early identi14 fication training.’’; and 

15 (2) in subsection (e), by adding at the end the 

16 following new paragraph: 

17 ‘‘(4) The term ‘mental health early identifica18 tion training’ means a training designed to educate 

19 the trainee on— 

20 ‘‘(A) warning signs and symptoms of men21 tal health illness, including an eating disorder; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(B) how to refer an individual for mental 

24 health treatment.’’. 


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1 SEC. 6. EXPEDITED ACCESS TO MENTAL HEALTH CARE. 

2 (a) FACILITIES PROVIDING MENTAL HEALTH SERV3 ICES.—Chapter 55 of title 10, United States Code, is 

4 amended by inserting after section 1095g the following 

5 new section: 

6 ‘‘§ 1095h. Expedited approval of certain facilities pro7 viding mental health services 

8 ‘‘The Secretary shall prescribe regulations to estab9 lish that a facility may receive expedited authorization to 

10 provide services under this chapter if— 

11 ‘‘(1) such facility is affiliated with a facility or 

12 provider authorized to provide services under this 

13 chapter; and 

14 ‘‘(2) such facility only provides mental health 

15 services.’’. 

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

17 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting 

18 after the item relating to section 1095g the following new 

19 item: 

‘‘1095h. Expedited approval of certain facilities providing mental health services.’’. 

Æ 


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