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To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a patient outreach system relating to mental health care, and for other purposes.
Summary
This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs to establish a patient outreach system for veterans who have experienced traumatic or highly stressful events. Veterans enrolled in the VA's patient enrollment system can elect to receive information about available mental health services and resources. The bill requires the Secretary to coordinate this outreach system with the Department of Defense's Transition Assistance Program. The system must be established within two years of the bill's enactment.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
8 cosponsors
- Rep. Case, Ed [D-HI-1] (D-HI)
- Rep. Elfreth, Sarah [D-MD-3] (D-MD)
- Rep. Gillen, Laura [D-NY-4] (D-NY)
- Rep. Gottheimer, Josh [D-NJ-5] (D-NJ)
- Rep. Lee, Susie [D-NV-3] (D-NV)
- Rep. Neguse, Joe [D-CO-2] (D-CO)
- Rep. Suozzi, Thomas R. [D-NY-3] (D-NY)
- Rep. Vindman, Eugene Simon [D-VA-7] (D-VA)
Actions (3)
- Feb 20, 2025 Referred to the Subcommittee on Health. · house
- Jan 16, 2025 Referred to the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs. · house
- Jan 16, 2025 Introduced in House
More bills on these subjects (8)
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Similar bills (6)
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Text versions (1)
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Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 16, 2025
Mr. Wittman (for himself and Mr. Case) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs
A BILL
To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a patient outreach system relating to mental health care, 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 “Be Ready to Assist Veterans in Extremis Act” or the “BRAVE Act”.
SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS SYSTEM FOR PATIENT OUTREACH RELATING TO MENTAL HEALTH CARE.
(a) Establishment of System.—Chapter 17 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by inserting after section 1720J the following new section (and conforming the table of sections at the beginning of such chapter accordingly): “Sec. 1720K. Mental health care: patient outreach system “The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall establish a patient outreach system under which the Secretary shall ensure that veterans who are enrolled in the system of annual patient enrollment established and operated under section 1705 of this title and have experienced a traumatic or other highly stressful event, may elect to receive from the Secretary information relating to mental health and resources relating to the mental health care services available to the veteran.”.
(b) Administration of System.—In administering the patient outreach system established under section 1720K of title 38, United States Code (as added by subsection (a)), the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall seek to coordinate such system with the Transition Assistance Program of the Department of Defense.
(c) Deadline for Establishment.—The Secretary shall establish the patient outreach system under such section 1720K by not later than two years after the date of the enactment of this Act. <all>
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