Military Mental Health Review Board Improvement Act

Bill: 113-s-2217
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Tester, Jon [D-MT]
Introduced: 2014-04-07
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Subjects: Medical tests and diagnostic methods

Mental health

Military personnel and dependents

Neurological disorders

Personnel records
Latest action: action_date: 2014-04-07
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.

Summaries:
action_date: 2014-04-07
action_desc: Introduced in Senate
text: <p>Military Mental Health Review Board Improvement Act - Requires any medical advisory opinion issued to a civilian board for the correction of a military record, with respect to a current or former member of the Armed Forces diagnosed while serving in the Armed Forces as experiencing a mental health disorder, to include the opinion of a clinical psychologist or psychiatrist if the request for the correction of the records concerned relates to a mental health disorder. </p> <p>Requires any physician on a board for review of a discharge or dismissal of certain former members of the Armed Forces, who after deployment were diagnosed as experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or traumatic brain injury, or as having a mental health disorder, to have training on mental health issues connected with PTSD or traumatic brain injury (as applicable), or special training on mental health disorders.</p>

tv_txt: II 113th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 2217 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES April 7, 2014 Mr. Tester (for himself, Mrs. Gillibrand , Mr. Blumenthal , and Mr. Walsh ) 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 enhance the participation of mental health professionals in boards for the correction of military records and boards for the review of the discharge or dismissal of members of the Armed Forces.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Military Mental Health Review Board Improvement Act . 2. Enhancement of participation of mental health professionals in boards for correction of military records and boards for review of discharge or dismissal of members of the Armed Forces (a) Boards for correction of military records Section 1552 of title 10, United States Code, is amended— (1) by redesignating subsection (g) as subsection (h); and (2) by inserting after subsection (f) the following new subsection (g): (g) Any medical advisory opinion issued to a board established under subsection (a)(1) with respect to a member or former member of the armed forces who was diagnosed while serving in the armed forces as experiencing a mental health disorder shall include the opinion of a clinical psychologist or psychiatrist if the request for correction of records concerned relates to a mental health disorder. . (b) Boards for review of discharge or dismissal (1) Review for certain former members with PTSD or TBI Subsection (d)(1) of section 1553 of such title is amended by striking physician, clinical psychologist, or psychiatrist the second place it appears and inserting clinical psychologist or psychiatrist, or a physician with training on mental health issues connected with post traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury (as applicable) . (2) Review for certain former members with mental health diagnoses Such section is further amended by adding at the end the following new subsection: (e) In the case of a former member of the armed forces (other than a former member covered by subsection (d)) who was diagnosed while serving in the armed forces as experiencing a mental health disorder, a board established under this section to review the former member's discharge or dismissal shall include a member who is a clinical psychologist or psychiatrist, or a physician with special training on mental health disorders. .