[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2441 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        H.R.2441

                    One Hundred Seventeenth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE FIRST SESSION

           Begun and held at the City of Washington on Sunday,
          the third day of January, two thousand and twenty-one


                                 An Act


 
 To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to expand the Rural Access 
  Network for Growth Enhancement Program of the Department of Veterans 
 Affairs, and to direct the Comptroller General of the United States to 
 conduct a study to assess certain mental health care resources of the 
 Department of Veterans Affairs available to veterans who live in rural 
                                 areas.

    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 ``Sgt. Ketchum Rural Veterans Mental 
Health Act of 2021''.
SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF RURAL ACCESS NETWORK FOR GROWTH ENHANCEMENT 
PROGRAM OF THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.
    (a) Expansion.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall establish 
and maintain three new centers of the RANGE Program.
    (b) Locations.--The centers established under subsection (a) shall 
be located in areas determined by the Secretary based on--
        (1) the need for additional mental health care for rural 
    veterans in such areas; and
        (2) interest expressed by personnel at facilities of the 
    Department in such areas.
    (c) Timeline.--The Secretary shall establish the centers under 
subsection (a) during fiscal year 2022.
    (d) Funding.--There is authorized to be appropriated $1,200,000 for 
each of fiscal years 2022 through 2024 to carry out this section.
SEC. 3. GAO STUDY OF MENTAL HEALTH CARE FURNISHED BY THE SECRETARY OF 
VETERANS AFFAIRS TO RURAL VETERANS.
    (a) Study Required.--The Comptroller General of the United States 
shall conduct a study to assess whether the Department of Veterans 
Affairs has sufficient resources to serve rural veterans who need 
covered mental health care. Such study shall include assessments of--
        (1) whether the mental health care furnished by the Secretary 
    (through resources including the RANGE Program, Enhanced RANGE 
    Program, mental health residential rehabilitation treatment 
    programs, inpatient mental health services, and PRR centers) is 
    sufficient to meet the covered mental health care needs of rural 
    veterans;
        (2) how best to expand and to appropriately locate resources 
    described in paragraph (1);
        (3) whether to require the establishment of a PRR center at a 
    medical facility of the Department that serves 1,000 or more 
    veterans on the National Psychosis Registry;
        (4) the demand by rural veterans for mental health resources 
    specified in paragraph (1);
        (5) the average wait time for a rural veteran for mental health 
    resources specified in paragraph (1); and
        (6) how many rural veterans died by suicide or overdose--
            (A) while on a wait list for mental health resources 
        specified in paragraph (1); and
            (B) during the term of the study.
    (b) Report Required.--Not later than 18 months after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall submit to the 
Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and House of 
Representatives a report containing the results of the study under this 
section.
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.
    In this Act:
        (1) The term ``covered mental health care'' means mental health 
    care that is more intensive than traditional outpatient therapy.
        (2) The term ``PRR center'' means a psychosocial rehabilitation 
    and recovery center of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
        (3) The term ``RANGE Program'' means the Rural Access Network 
    for Growth Enhancement Program of the Department of Veterans 
    Affairs.
        (4) The term ``rural veteran'' means a veteran who lives in a 
    rural or highly rural area (including such an area in a Tribal or 
    insular area), as determined through the use of the Rural-Urban 
    Commuting Areas coding system of the Department of Agriculture.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.