Sgt. Ketchum Rural Veterans Mental Health Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1468 To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to expand the Rural Access Network for Growth Enhancement Program of the Department of Vet- erans 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. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 29, 2021 Mr. TESTER (for himself and Mr. MORAN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to expand the Rural Access Network for Growth Enhancement Pro- gram 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 Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:51 May 24, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1468.IS S1468 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1468 IS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Sgt. Ketchum Rural 2 Veterans Mental Health Act of 2021’’. 3 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 4 In this Act: 5 (1) The term ‘‘covered mental health care’’ 6 means mental health care that is more intensive 7 than traditional outpatient therapy. 8 (2) The term ‘‘PRR center’’ means a psycho- 9 social rehabilitation and recovery center of the De- 10 partment of Veterans Affairs. 11 (3) The term ‘‘RANGE Program’’ means the 12 Rural Access Network for Growth Enhancement 13 Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs. 14 (4) The term ‘‘rural veteran’’ means a veteran 15 who lives in a rural or highly rural area (including 16 such an area in a Tribal or insular area), as deter- 17 mined through the use of the Rural-Urban Com- 18 muting Areas coding system of the Department of 19 Agriculture. 20 SEC. 3. EXPANSION OF RURAL ACCESS NETWORK FOR 21 GROWTH ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM OF THE 22 DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 23 (a) EXPANSION.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 24 shall establish and maintain three new centers of the 25 RANGE Program. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:51 May 24, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1468.IS S1468 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1468 IS (b) LOCATIONS.—The centers established under sub- 1 section (a) shall be located in areas determined by the Sec- 2 retary based on— 3 (1) the need for additional mental health care 4 for rural veterans in such areas; and 5 (2) interest expressed by personnel at facilities 6 of the Department of Veterans Affairs in such areas. 7 (c) TIMELINE.—The Secretary shall establish the 8 centers under subsection (a) during fiscal year 2022. 9 (d) FUNDING.—There is authorized to be appro- 10 priated to the Secretary $1,200,000 for each of fiscal 11 years 2022 through 2024 to carry out this section. 12 SEC. 4. COMPTROLLER GENERAL STUDY ON MENTAL 13 HEALTH CARE FURNISHED BY THE SEC- 14 RETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS TO RURAL 15 VETERANS. 16 (a) STUDY REQUIRED.— 17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of 18 the United States shall conduct a study to assess 19 whether the Department of Veterans Affairs has suf- 20 ficient resources to serve rural veterans who need 21 covered mental health care. 22 (2) ELEMENTS.—The study required under 23 paragraph (1) shall include an assessment of— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:51 May 24, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1468.IS S1468 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1468 IS (A) whether the mental health care fur- 1 nished by the Secretary through resources in- 2 cluding the RANGE Program, Enhanced 3 RANGE Program, mental health residential re- 4 habilitation treatment programs, inpatient men- 5 tal health services, and PRR centers is suffi- 6 cient to meet the covered mental health care 7 needs of rural veterans; 8 (B) how best to expand and to appro- 9 priately locate mental health resources de- 10 scribed in subparagraph (A); 11 (C) whether to require the establishment of 12 a PRR center at a medical facility of the De- 13 partment that serves 1,000 or more veterans 14 who are on the National Psychosis Registry; 15 (D) the demand by rural veterans for men- 16 tal health resources specified in subparagraph 17 (A); 18 (E) the average wait time for a rural vet- 19 eran for mental health resources specified in 20 subparagraph (A); and 21 (F) during the term of the study, how 22 many rural veterans died by suicide or overdose 23 while on a wait list for mental health resources 24 specified in subparagraph (A). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:51 May 24, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1468.IS S1468 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1468 IS (b) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 18 months 1 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comp- 2 troller General shall submit to the Committee on Veterans’ 3 Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Veterans ’Af- 4 fairs of the House of Representatives a report containing 5 the results of the study conducted under subsection (a). 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:51 May 24, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1468.IS S1468 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS