I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 918 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans 

Affairs to furnish mental health care to certain former members of 

the Armed Forces who are not otherwise eligible to receive such care, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 7, 2017 

Mr. COFFMAN (for himself, Mr. KILMER, Miss RICE of New York, Mr. MEEHAN, Mr. JONES, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. COSTELLO of Pennsylvania, Ms. JENKINS of Kansas, Mr. KING of New York, Mr. SWALWELL

of California, Mr. HIMES, Mr. BERGMAN, Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire, and Mrs. RADEWAGEN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to furnish mental health care 

to certain former members of the Armed Forces who 

are not otherwise eligible to receive such care, 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 ‘‘Veteran Urgent Access 

5 to Mental Healthcare Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF INITIAL AND URGENT MENTAL 

2 HEALTH CARE FOR CERTAIN FORMER MEM3 BERS OF THE ARMED FORCES. 

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

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

6 the following new section: 

7 ‘‘§ 1720I. Provision of initial and urgent mental 

8 health care for certain former members 

9 not otherwise eligible for care 

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall furnish to 

11 former members of the Armed Forces described in sub12 section (b)— 

13 ‘‘(1) an initial mental health assessment; and 

14 ‘‘(2) the mental health care services authorized 

15 under this chapter that the Secretary determines are 

16 required to treat the urgent mental health care 

17 needs of the former member, including risk of sui18 cide or harming others. 

19 ‘‘(b) FORMER MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES

20 DESCRIBED.—A former member of the Armed Forces de21 scribed in this subsection is an individual who meets the 

22 following criteria: 

23 ‘‘(1) The individual is a former member of the 

24 Armed Forces, including the reserve components, 

25 who— 


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1 ‘‘(A) served in the active military, naval, or 

2 air service, and was discharged or released 

3 therefrom under a condition that is not honor4 able except— 

5 ‘‘(i) dishonorable; or 

6 ‘‘(ii) bad conduct discharge; 

7 ‘‘(B) has applied for a character of service 

8 determination and such determination has not 

9 been made; and 

10 ‘‘(C) is not otherwise eligible to enroll in 

11 the health care system established by section 

12 1705 of this title by reason of such discharge 

13 or release not meeting the requirements of sec14 tion 101(2) of this title. 

15 ‘‘(2) While serving in the Armed Forces— 

16 ‘‘(A) the former member was deployed in a 

17 theater of combat operations or an area at a 

18 time during which hostilities occurred in that 

19 area; 

20 ‘‘(B) participated in or experienced such 

21 combat operations or hostilities, including by 

22 controlling an unmanned aerial vehicle from a 

23 location other than such theater or area; or 

24 ‘‘(C) was the victim of a physical assault 

25 of a sexual nature, battery of a sexual nature, 


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1 or sexual harassment (as defined in section 

2 1720D(f) of this title). 

3 ‘‘(c) NON-DEPARTMENT CARE.—(1) In furnishing 

4 mental health care services to an individual under this sec5 tion, the Secretary may provide such mental health care 

6 services at a non-Department facility if— 

7 ‘‘(A) in the judgment of a mental health profes8 sional employed by the Department, the receipt of 

9 mental health care services by that individual in fa10 cilities of the Department would be clinically inadvis11 able; or 

12 ‘‘(B) facilities of the Department are not capa13 ble of furnishing such mental health care services to 

14 that individual economically because of geographical 

15 inaccessibility. 

16 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall carry out paragraph (1) pur17 suant to section 1703 of this title or any other provision 

18 of law authorizing the Secretary to enter into contracts 

19 or agreements to furnish hospital care and medical serv20 ices to veterans at non-Department facilities. 

21 ‘‘(d) SETTING AND REFERRALS.—In furnishing men22 tal health care services to an individual under this section, 

23 the Secretary shall— 

24 ‘‘(1) seek to ensure that such mental health 

25 care services are furnished in a setting that is theraVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:27 Feb 15, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H918.IH H918

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1 peutically appropriate, taking into account the cir2 cumstances that resulted in the need for such men3 tal health care services; and 

4 ‘‘(2) provide referral services to assist former 

5 members who are not eligible for services under this 

6 chapter to obtain services from sources outside the 

7 Department. 

8 ‘‘(e) INFORMATION.—The Secretary shall provide in9 formation on the mental health care services available 

10 under this section. Efforts by the Secretary to provide 

11 such information— 

12 ‘‘(1) shall include availability of a toll-free tele13 phone number (commonly referred to as an 800 

14 number); 

15 ‘‘(2) shall ensure that information about the 

16 mental health care services available under this sec17 tion— 

18 ‘‘(A) is revised and updated as appro19 priate; 

20 ‘‘(B) is made available and visibly posted 

21 at appropriate facilities of the Department; and 

22 ‘‘(C) is made available through appropriate 

23 public information services; and 

24 ‘‘(3) shall include coordination with the Sec25 retary of Defense seeking to ensure that members of 


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1 the Armed Forces and individuals who are being 

2 separated from active military, naval, or air service 

3 are provided appropriate information about pro4 grams, requirements, and procedures for applying 

5 for mental health care services under this section. 

6 ‘‘(f) ANNUAL REPORTS.—Each year, the Secretary 

7 shall submit to Congress an annual report on the mental 

8 health care services provided pursuant to this section. 

9 Each report shall include data for the year covered by the 

10 report with respect to each of the following: 

11 ‘‘(1) The number of individuals who received 

12 mental health care services under subsection (a), 

13 disaggregated by the number of men who received 

14 such services and the number of women who re15 ceived such services. 

16 ‘‘(2) Such other information as the Secretary 

17 considers appropriate.’’. 

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

19 at the beginning of chapter 17 of title 38, United States 

20 Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating to 

21 section 1720H the following new item: 

‘‘1720I. Provision of initial and urgent mental health care not otherwise eligible 

for care.’’. 

22 (c) STUDY ON EFFECT OF COMBAT SERVICE ON SUI23 CIDE RATES.— 


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1 (1) STUDY.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs, 

2 in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, shall 

3 seek to enter into a contract with an independent 

4 nongovernmental entity to carry out a study on the 

5 effect combat service has had on suicide rates and 

6 serious mental health issues among veterans. To the 

7 extent practicable, such study shall— 

8 (A) compare the rate and method of sui9 cides among veterans who have received mental 

10 health care services from the Veterans Health 

11 Administration and veterans who have not re12 ceived such services from the Veterans Health 

13 Administration; and 

14 (B) compare the rate and method of sui15 cides and the incidence of serious mental health 

16 issues among veterans who have served in com17 bat and veterans who have not served in com18 bat. 

19 (2) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the 

20 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

21 Veterans Affairs shall submit to Congress a report 

22 containing the study conducted under paragraph (1). 

Æ 


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