August 12, 2020 - Issue: Vol. 166, No. 144 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 2nd Session
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VETERANS MENTAL HEALTH CARE IMPROVEMENT ACT; Congressional Record Vol. 166, No. 144
(Senate - August 12, 2020)
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[Pages S5397-S5398] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] VETERANS MENTAL HEALTH CARE IMPROVEMENT ACT Mr. CASSIDY. Mr. President, I rise today to speak to a very important piece of legislation, which quietly passed this Chamber last week. It included several provisions I authored and offered based upon my experience as a physician that specifically provides mental health support to America's veterans. We all agree, we owe the men and women who fought and fight for this country a tremendous debt of gratitude for the sacrifices they made to preserve our freedom. It is dangerous, and our servicemembers answer the call. Many carry scars from injuries sustained during that service. But there are scars that we cannot see. Service can take a physical toll but also a mental one. Too many veterans struggle with mental health issues and suicidal thoughts. About 17 veterans per day from all of our wars put together take their own lives. For comparison, 22 servicemembers were killed in combat in Afghanistan throughout all of 2019. We are losing thousands more veterans at home than we are losing fighting men and women in the field. That is something to ponder. We must do a better job of leading the mental health needs of veterans. Thankfully, this Chamber took a big step forward last week when we passed the Commander John Scott Hannon Veterans Mental Health Care Improvement Act. The bill improves outreach to veterans and offers new mental healthcare options in five major ways: First, the bill bolsters the VA's mental health workforce to serve more veterans. It gives the VA direct hiring authority for mental health professionals. The VA can offer scholarships to mental health professionals to work at vet centers, and it provides for at least one suicide prevention coordinator at every Veterans' Administration Hospital. It improves rural veterans' access to mental healthcare by increasing the number of locations where veterans can access VA telehealth services. It also offers grants to non-VA organizations that provide mental health services or alternative treatments to veterans. The bill strengthens support and assistance for servicemembers transitioning out of the military by automatically giving every servicemember a full year of VA healthcare when they leave the military. By the way, this came to my mind: It turns out that most suicides occur within 6 weeks of one of our soldiers or sailors or marines leaving the service; within 6 months of that departure is when they tend to commit suicide. But it is about 6 months before they first access VA services. We have to have this kind of transition point tightened and one that makes sure they all know they have VA benefits for that first year. The Veterans Mental Healthcare Improvement Act also studies and invests in innovative and alternative science-based treatment options. It invests in research on the impact of living at high altitudes, on veterans' suicide risk, and on identifying and treating other risk factors for mental health illness. It holds the VA accountable for its mental healthcare and suicide prevention efforts. It does this by examining [[Page S5398]] how the VA manages suicide prevention resources and how the VA provides care and information sharing for veterans seeking mental healthcare from both VA and community providers. This bill takes a strong, evidence-based approach to meeting veterans' needs that haven't always been given priority. It is encouraging to me that is bipartisan. At a time when we don't appear to agree on very much, we are able to deliver for our heroes. I am proud to have worked with my Democratic colleagues to write bills that were included in this package. Senator Tester and I partnered on the Promoting Coordination for Veteran Suicide Prevention Act. This bill, this amendment, ensures that a thorough review of veterans who die by suicide within 1 year of separation from the Armed Services is conducted jointly by both the Department of Defense and by the VA. As I mentioned, most suicides occur within 6 months of separating from service. If that is the case, then the Department of Defense can do a review of what are those risk factors and have a warm handoff to the Veterans' Administration Hospital. And because we made automatic that first year of service within the VA, that warm handoff can be taken without any impediments of is there coverage or is there not. There is also going to be a partnership between the mental health and suicide prevention experts in both the VA and DOD that will contribute to improved information sharing and help further close the gap in ensuring high-quality, seamless care between these two Departments, focusing on the serviceperson who has now become a veteran. Senator Tester and I also worked together on the VA Research Approval Efficiency Act. This provision authorizes the Veterans Administration to leverage accredited commercial institutional review boards for use in connection with VA-sponsored clinical research. Getting the VA commercial options for approving clinical trials will add much-needed efficiencies and begin to reduce the disparity with academic and other institutions that, today, lead in clinical trial administration. If we know that our treatments for those with mental illness often need to be improved, we want to give our veterans access to those improved treatments as soon as possible, but we also want to make sure that those treatments suit the needs of the veteran. You can only do this by encouraging that research activity with full consent of the veteran--full consent--by which she or he may participate in these trials for her benefit, his benefit, but also for the benefit of us all. This reform enables the VA to increase the caliber care it delivers to veterans in a variety of clinical areas. Senator Sinema and I introduced the Improving Mental Health Care for Veterans Act. This provision requires VA and DOD to establish a joint clinical practice guideline for treatment of serious mental illness. This commonsense approach builds on an already robust library of clinical practice guidelines that serve to standardize and reinforce treatment procedures in other areas. Just as a point, if someone is found to be well-controlled in a certain medical regimen but then they transition to another different care with a different formulary, then all the hard work to find just the right clinical pharmaceutical treatment program to keep the person balanced now has to be changed because the second department has a different formulary--a different set of drugs with which they wish to treat--all the good work done here is lost there. We wish to eliminate that possibility by making sure there is a common set of clinical guidelines so that somebody with stress is passed off and it is seamless, both in terms of the clinical care, but also the medicines which they may take. The passage of the Commander John Scott Hannon Veterans Mental Health Care Improvement Act is the culmination of a lot of hard work from both Democratic and Republican Senators. It now goes to the House for consideration. I urge the House to swiftly pass this legislation so that President Trump can sign it into law. This bill will have a direct, positive impact in the care the VA delivers to American veterans. They answered the call to serve our Nation; now, Congress must answer the call to better serve them. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll. The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll. Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded. The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Cassidy). Without objection, it is so ordered. ____________________
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