Glacier Country News

(WASHINGTON) – Congressmen Ryan Zinke (R-MT) and Congressman Donald Davis (D-NC), along with twelve additional colleagues including every Navy SEAL in Congress, introduced a bipartisan, bicameral bill to ensure the Department of Veterans Affairs is granting veterans access to life-saving mental health care in their local communities. The legislation streamlines veteran’s community-based care by allowing expedited residential healthcare referrals when the local VA is at capacity. The bill also requires yearly tracking of referrals to be reported to Congress, and requires any alterations the VA may seek to make to community care standards be made by Congress, not the department.

“The very program created to take care of our veterans should be the last obstacle standing in their way, unfortunately that has become the reality with the VA – especially when it comes to mental health,” said retired Navy SEAL Commander Rep. Ryan Zinke (MT-01). “Veterans deserve the best, quickest, and most updated version of healthcare we can give them and expanding access to community-based mental healthcare does exactly that. Intervention at the point of crisis is mission critical to saving lives. The longer veterans have to wait in line to heal their mental and emotional scars, the more their lives are at risk." 

Air Force veteran and Congressman Donald Davis (D-NC) said: “Our veterans deserve nothing less than the highest standard of health care. It is the least we can do to repay their sacrifices forthis great nation. On behalf of the nearly 50,000 veterans in North Carolina’s First Congressional District, I am proud to support the Protecting Veteran Community Care Act, legislation that amends landmark reforms to veterans’ health care, including mental health treatment. It is simply unacceptable to lose more than 20 veterans daily to suicide. This bill will further veteran access standards and no longer depend on VA access standards, bringing down costly wait times. No veteran should have to put their health on the line to access lifesaving mental health care. "

“America’s veterans deserve ample and timely access to mental healthcare. After returning home, many veterans still carry the weight of their service with them in their day-to-day lives, and face long wait times to utilize VA resources,” said U.S. Navy SEAL veteran Dan Crenshaw (R-TX). “I’m proud to cosponsor Congressman Zinke’s bipartisan bill to expedite healthcare options and ensure our veterans get the medical attention they need, when they need it.”

“As a disabled combat veteran and a Representative for a large veteran community, I understand the challenges our military members face when they return from service — it’s not always physical or visible,” said Congressman Luttrell (R-TX). “When I speak with veterans in my district, they always express concerns for broader access and diverse forms of treatments for mental healthcare. I’m proud to cosponsor this legislation that will provide much deserved swifter and higher quality care for veterans.”

“The VA continues to fall short on their commitment to provide timely care, forcing veterans into unacceptable waiting periods and unreliable appointment scheduling,” said U.S. Navy SEAL veteran Eli Crane (AZ-02). “With many of our veterans living in rural areas, expanding access to favorable healthcare choices often means the difference between life and death. As a veteran myself, I’m proud to sign onto this bill, which would counteract the agency’s backsliding and ensure our vets aren’t isolated by senseless restrictions.” 

“As a retired U.S. Navy SEAL who has lost many friends to the unseen wounds of war, my number one priority in Congress is preventing veteran suicide. The Protecting Veteran Community Care Act will ensure our veterans in rural communities have access to the mental health care they need, and I fully support it,” Congressman Derrick Van Orden (R-WI) said.

Senator Daines, who introduced a companion bill in the Senate, said the bill will expand healthcare access for veterans in remote places across Montana.

“The VA’s mission is to ‘care for those who have served in our nation’s military,’ that means ensuring our brave Montana veterans have access to the highest quality of care no matter where they live,” said U.S. Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) I will always work to protect Montana veterans’ access to health care in communities across Montana.” 

The “Protecting Veteran Community Care Act” strengthens the existing community care program, limits the VA’s ability to restrict access to care in the community, and requires the VA to track relevant community care data and provide those statistics to Congress.

Specifically, this legislation would:

• Amend the MISSION Act to specifically include inpatient mental health standards.
• Adds clarity to veteran eligibility for care in the community.
• Requires the VA to track and present to Congress data on how veterans are requesting and using community care, along with what services community care funds are paying for.
• Requires passage of a Joint Resolution in both chambers of Congress to modify community care eligibility.

Read the one-pager HERE.

Original source can be found here.