HB 918 Veteran Urgent Access to Mental Healthcare Act

About HB-918

Veteran Urgent Access to Mental Healthcare Act

Section 2

This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to furnish to former members of the Armed Forces:

• (1) an initial mental health assessment; and
• (2) the mental health care services required to treat the member's urgent mental health care needs, including risk of suicide or harming others

A former member of the Armed Forces is an individual who: served in the active military, naval, or air service, was discharged or released under a condition less than honorable (except a dishonorable or bad conduct discharge), has applied for a character of service determination that has not yet been made, and is not otherwise eligible to enroll in the VA health care system by reason of such discharge or release; or while serving in the Armed Forces, was deployed in a theater of combat operations or an area at a time during which hostilities occurred in that area, participated in or experienced such combat operations or hostilities (including by controlling an unmanned aerial vehicle from a location other than such theater or area), or was the victim of a physical assault of a sexual nature, battery of a sexual nature, or sexual harassment. The VA may provide such mental health care services at a non-VA facility if:

• (1) the receipt of mental health care services by an individual in VA facilities would be clinically inadvisable, or
• (2) VA facilities are not capable of furnishing such mental health care services to that individual economically because of geographical inaccessibility

The VA shall:

• (1) seek to ensure that such mental health care services are furnished in a therapeutically appropriate setting, and
• (2) provide referral services to assist former members who are not eligible for such VA services in obtaining services from non-VA sources

Section 3

The VA shall establish a process by which an individual who was discharged from the Armed Forces can seek a VA determination as to whether the discharge was under a condition barring the individual from receiving a VA benefit. If the VA determines that the individual is so barred, the VA shall provide such individual with information regarding his or her ability to address such condition.