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 Vet-
erans Affairs. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 6, 2017 
Mr. LOEBSACK (for himself, Mr. STIVERS, Mrs. BUSTOS, Mr. LEWIS of Geor-
gia, 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 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, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Sgt. Brandon Ketchum 
Never Again Act’’. 
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 1720H 
the following new section: 
‘‘§ 1720I. 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) For purposes of determining the rates of reim-
bursement for a non-Department facility that furnishes in- 
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patient psychiatric care pursuant to paragraph (1), the 
Secretary shall treat such non-Department facility as a 
health care provider being reimbursed pursuant to section 
101(d)(2) of the Veterans Access, Choice, and Account-
ability Act of 2014 (Public Law 113–146). 
‘‘(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 1720H the following new 
item: 
‘‘1720I. Provision of in-patient psychiatric care.’’. 
Æ 
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