Title: SERVE Act
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security

Summary:
Supporting Eating Disorders Recovery Through Vital Expansion Act or the SERVE Act
This bill provides coverage of the treatment of eating disorders under the TRICARE program. The services include both inpatient and outpatient care and shall be furnished without regard to age of a military dependent.
As part of the process for referrals for mental health evaluations of members, the Department of Defense shall encourage commanders and supervisory personnel to undertake mental health early identification training, to include recognition of warning signs and symptoms of an eating disorder.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2673 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2673

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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 23, 2019

 Mrs. Shaheen (for herself, Ms. McSally, Ms. Hirono, and Mrs. Capito) 
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 for eating disorders 
   treatment for members and certain former members of the uniformed 
   services, and dependents of such members, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Supporting Eating Disorders Recovery 
Through Vital Expansion Act'' or the ``SERVE Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Eating disorders affect approximately 30,000,000 
        Americans, including individuals from every age, gender, body 
        size, race, and socioeconomic status.
            (2) Eating disorders include anorexia nervosa, bulimia 
        nervosa, binge-eating disorder, avoidant restrictive intake 
        disorder, and other specified feeding or eating disorders.
            (3) Eating disorders result in the highest mortality rate 
        of any psychiatric illness, and the suicide rate for 
        individuals with such disorders is 23 percent higher than the 
        suicide rate for the general population.
            (4) Research demonstrates that--
                    (A) eating disorders often co-occur with complex 
                medical conditions, mental illnesses, and substance use 
                disorders; and
                    (B) up to 35 percent of individuals with a 
                substance use disorder have a co-occurring eating 
                disorder.
            (5) Studies indicate that there is a higher prevalence of 
        eating disorders among members of the Armed Forces and veterans 
        than among the general population.
            (6) Family members of members of the Armed Forces have a 
        higher prevalence of eating disorders than the general 
        population, with 20 percent of children of members of the Armed 
        Forces found at risk of developing an eating disorder.
            (7) Research has found a significant relationship between 
        eating disorders and members of the Armed Forces and veterans 
        with a history of post-traumatic stress and sexual trauma.
            (8) Female members of the Armed Forces have a particularly 
        high risk for an eating disorder, as studies have found that 16 
        percent of such members have an eating disorder and 34 percent 
        of such members are at risk of developing an eating disorder.

SEC. 3. EATING DISORDERS TREATMENT FOR DEPENDENTS.

    Section 1077 of title 10, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)(5), by inserting ``, including, in 
        accordance with subsection (i), eating disorders'' after 
        ``chronic conditions''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(i)(1) The provision of health care services for an eating 
disorder under subsection (a)(5) shall include treatment at facilities 
providing the following hospital-based or freestanding services:
            ``(A) Inpatient services.
            ``(B) Residential services.
            ``(C) Partial hospitalization services.
            ``(D) Intensive outpatient services.
            ``(E) Outpatient services.
    ``(2) A dependent may be provided health care services for an 
eating disorder under subsection (a)(5) without regard to the age of 
the dependent.
    ``(3) Treatment may be provided under paragraph (1) at a 
freestanding facility only if the facility--
            ``(A) is certified to provide such treatment under the 
        TRICARE program; and
            ``(B) provides to the Secretary of Defense verifiable 
        outcome measurements demonstrating clinical improvement of 
        patients when reasonably possible to collect such measurements.
    ``(4) In this section, the term `eating disorder' has the meaning 
given that term in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental 
Disorders, 5th Edition (or successor edition), published by the 
American Psychiatric Association.''.

SEC. 4. IDENTIFICATION AND TREATMENT OF EATING DISORDERS FOR MEMBERS OF 
              THE ARMED FORCES.

    Section 1090 of title 10, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) by striking ``The Secretary of Defense'' and inserting 
        the following:
    ``(a) Identification and Treatment of Eating Disorders and Drug and 
Alcohol Dependence.--The Secretary of Defense'';
            (2) by inserting ``have an eating disorder or'' before 
        ``are dependent on drugs or alcohol''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new subsections:
    ``(b) Facilities Available to Individuals With Eating Disorders.--
For purposes of this section, necessary facilities described in 
subsection (a) shall include the facilities described in section 
1077(i)(1) of this title.
    ``(c) Eating Disorder Defined.--In this section, the term `eating 
disorder' has the meaning given that term in section 1077(i)(4) of this 
title.''.

SEC. 5. MENTAL HEALTH EARLY IDENTIFICATION TRAINING.

    Section 1090a of title 10, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``and'' at the 
                end;
                    (B) in paragraph (2), by striking the period at the 
                end and inserting ``; and''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following new 
                paragraph:
            ``(3) require commanders and supervisory personnel to 
        undertake mental health early identification training.''; and
            (2) in subsection (e), by adding at the end the following 
        new paragraph:
            ``(4) The term `mental health early identification 
        training' means training designed to educate the trainee on--
                    ``(A) warning signs and symptoms of mental health 
                illness, including an eating disorder; and
                    ``(B) how to refer an individual for mental health 
                treatment.''.
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