I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2997 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to ensure that certain veterans 
receive in-patient psychiatric care provided by the Department of Vet-
erans Affairs. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 23, 2019 
Mr. LOEBSACK (for himself, Mr. STIVERS, Mrs. BUSTOS, Ms. FINKENAUER, 
Mrs. AXNE, Mr. VELA, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. MCCAUL, Ms. GABBARD, Mrs. 
DINGELL, Mr. SOTO, Mr. GAETZ, Mr. COOPER, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. 
RYAN, Mr. KATKO, Mr. GIBBS, Mr. HIMES, Mr. COX of California, Mr. 
SWALWELL of California, Ms. SHERRILL, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. LUJA´N, Mr. 
CA´RDENAS, Mr. GALLEGO, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. 
OLSON, Mr. YOUNG, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. LOFGREN, and Mr. VEASEY) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Vet-
erans’ Affairs 
A BILL 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to ensure that cer-
tain veterans receive in-patient psychiatric care provided 
by the Department of Veterans Affairs. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Sgt. Brandon Ketchum 
Never Again Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. PROVISION OF IN-PATIENT PSYCHIATRIC CARE FOR 
VETERANS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 17 of title 38, United 
States Code, is amended by inserting after section 1720I 
the following new section: 
‘‘§ 1720J. Provision of in-patient psychiatric care 
‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT TO FURNISH CARE.—Except as 
provided by subsection (b), upon the request of a covered 
veteran, the Secretary shall furnish, or continue to fur-
nish, to the covered veteran in-patient psychiatric care at 
the facility of the Department that— 
‘‘(1) is closest to where the veteran resides; and 
‘‘(2) has the capacity and capability to provide 
such care. 
‘‘(b) NON-DEPARTMENT FACILITIES.—(1) If the 
Secretary determines, on a case-by-case basis, that a facil-
ity of the Department does not have the capability or ca-
pacity to furnish in-patient psychiatric care to a covered 
veteran pursuant to subsection (a), the Secretary shall 
furnish such care to such veteran at a non-Department 
facility. 
‘‘(2) The Secretary shall determine the rates of pay-
ment for a non-Department facility that furnishes in-pa-
tient psychiatric care pursuant to paragraph (1) in accord-
ance with the rates paid by the United States under sec-
tion 1703(i) of this title. 
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‘‘(c) COVERED VETERAN DEFINED.—In this section, 
the term ‘covered veteran’ means a veteran who is— 
‘‘(1) enrolled in the health care system estab-
lished under section 1705(a) of this title; and 
‘‘(2) entitled to in-patient psychiatric care fur-
nished by the Secretary under this chapter.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 
at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting 
after the item relating to section 1720I the following new 
item: 
‘‘1720J. Provision of in-patient psychiatric care.’’. 
Æ 
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