II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 646 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to provide an individual with a 

mental health screening before the individual enlists in the Armed Forces 

or is commissioned as an officer in the Armed Forces, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 3, 2015 

Mr. PORTMAN (for himself and Mr. HEINRICH) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to provide an individual with a mental health screening before the individual enlists in the Armed Forces or is commissioned 

as an officer in the Armed Forces, 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 ‘‘Medical Evaluation 

5 Parity for Servicemembers Act of 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PRELIMINARY MENTAL HEALTH SCREENINGS FOR 

2 INDIVIDUALS BECOMING MEMBERS OF THE 

3 ARMED FORCES. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 31 of title 10, United 

5 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing new section: 

7 ‘‘§ 520d. Preliminary mental health screenings 

8 ‘‘(a) PROVISION OF MENTAL HEALTH SCREENING.— 

9 Before any individual enlists in an armed force or is com10 missioned as an officer in an armed force, the Secretary 

11 concerned shall provide the individual with a mental health 

12 screening. 

13 ‘‘(b) USE OF SCREENING.—(1) The Secretary shall 

14 use the results of a mental screening conducted under sub15 section (a) as a baseline for any subsequent mental health 

16 examinations of the individual, including such examina17 tions provided under sections 1074f and 1074m of this 

18 title. 

19 ‘‘(2) The Secretary may not consider the results of 

20 a mental health screening conducted under subsection (a) 

21 in determining the promotion of a member of the armed 

22 forces. 

23 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION OF PRIVACY LAWS.—With respect 

24 to applicable laws and regulations relating to the privacy 

25 of information, the Secretary shall treat a mental health 

26 screening conducted under subsection (a) in the same 


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1 manner as the medical records of a member of the armed 

2 forces.’’. 

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

4 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by adding 

5 after the item relating to section 520c the following new 

6 item: 

‘‘520d. Preliminary mental health screenings.’’. 

7 (c) REPORTS.— 

8 (1) INITIAL REPORT.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 

10 days after the date of the enactment of this 

11 Act, the National Institute of Mental Health of 

12 the National Institutes of Health shall submit 

13 to Congress and the Secretary of Defense a re14 port on preliminary mental health screenings of 

15 members of the Armed Forces. 

16 (B) MATTERS INCLUDED.—The report 

17 under subparagraph (A) shall include the fol18 lowing: 

19 (i) Recommendations with respect to 

20 establishing a preliminary mental health 

21 screening of members of the Armed Forces 

22 to bring mental health screenings to parity 

23 with physical screenings of members. 

24 (ii) Recommendations with respect to 

25 the composition of the mental health 


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1 screening, evidenced-based best practices, 

2 and how to track changes in mental health 

3 screenings relating to traumatic brain inju4 ries, post-traumatic stress disorder, and 

5 other conditions. 

6 (C) COORDINATION.—The National Insti7 tute of Mental Health shall carry out subpara8 graph (A) in coordination with the Secretary of 

9 Veterans Affairs, the Secretary of Health and 

10 Human Services, the surgeons general of the 

11 military departments, and other relevant ex12 perts. 

13 (2) REPORTS ON EFFICACY OF SCREENINGS.— 

14 (A) SECRETARY OF DEFENSE.—Not later 

15 than one year after the date on which the Sec16 retary of Defense begins providing preliminary 

17 mental health screenings under section 520d(a) 

18 of title 10, United States Code, as added by 

19 subsection (a), the Secretary shall submit to 

20 Congress a report on the efficacy of such pre21 liminary mental health screenings. 

22 (B) COMPTROLLER GENERAL.—Not later 

23 than one year after the submittal of the report 

24 under subparagraph (A), the Comptroller Gen25 eral of the United States shall submit to ConVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:53 Mar 11, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S646.IS S646

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1 gress a report on the efficacy of the preliminary 

2 mental health screenings described in such sub3 paragraph. 

4 (C) MATTERS INCLUDED.—The reports re5 quired by subparagraphs (A) and (B) shall in6 clude the following: 

7 (i) An evaluation of the evidence8 based best practices used by the Secretary 

9 in composing and conducting preliminary 

10 mental health screenings of members of 

11 the Armed Forces under such section 

12 520d(a). 

13 (ii) An evaluation of the evidence14 based best practices used by the Secretary 

15 in tracking changes in mental health 

16 screenings relating to traumatic brain inju17 ries, post-traumatic stress disorder, and 

18 other conditions among members of the 

19 Armed Forces. 

20 (d) IMPLEMENTATION OF PRELIMINARY MENTAL

21 HEALTH SCREENING.—The Secretary of Defense may not 

22 provide a preliminary mental health screening under sec23 tion 520d(a) of title 10, United States Code, as added by 

24 subsection (a), until the Secretary receives and evaluates 

25 the initial report required by subsection (c)(1). 


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1 SEC. 3. REPORT ON EFFICACY OF PHYSICAL EXAMINA2 TIONS FOR CERTAIN MEMBERS OF THE 

3 ARMED FORCES UPON SEPARATION FROM 

4 ACTIVE DUTY. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

6 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense 

7 shall submit to Congress a report on the efficacy of the 

8 mental health components of the physical examinations 

9 provided under paragraph (5) of section 1145(a) of title 

10 10, United States Code, to members of the Armed Forces 

11 who are separated from active duty as described in para12 graph (2) of such section. 

13 (b) EVALUATION OF EFFECTIVENESS.—The report 

14 required by subsection (a) shall include an evaluation of 

15 the effectiveness of the physical examinations described in 

16 such subsection in— 

17 (1) identifying members of the Armed Forces 

18 with traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress 

19 disorder, and other mental health conditions; and 

20 (2) ensuring that health care is provided for 

21 such members. 

Æ 


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