Warrior Wellness Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1801 To direct the Secretary of Defense to develop a strategy to recruit and retain mental health providers, to direct the Secretaries of the military departments to develop medication monitoring programs, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 14, 2019 Mr. SMUCKER (for himself and Mr. CARBAJAL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services A BILL To direct the Secretary of Defense to develop a strategy to recruit and retain mental health providers, to direct the Secretaries of the military departments to develop medication monitoring programs, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Warrior Wellness Act’’. 4 SEC. 2. STRATEGY TO RECRUIT AND RETAIN MENTAL 5 HEALTH PROVIDERS. 6 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact- 7 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall submit 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:23 Mar 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1801.IH H1801 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 1801 IH to the congressional defense committees (as defined in sec- 1 tion 101(a)(16) of title 10, United States Code) a report 2 that— 3 (1) describes the shortage of mental health pro- 4 viders of the Department of Defense; 5 (2) explains the reasons for such shortage; 6 (3) explains the effect of such shortage on 7 members of the Armed Forces; and 8 (4) contains a strategy to better recruit and re- 9 tain mental health providers, including with respect 10 to psychiatrists, psychologists, mental health nurse 11 practitioners, licensed social workers, and other li- 12 censed providers of the military health system. 13 SEC. 3. MONITORING MEDICATION PRESCRIBING PRAC- 14 TICES FOR THE TREATMENT OF POST-TRAU- 15 MATIC STRESS DISORDER. 16 (a) REPORT.— 17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 18 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec- 19 retary of Defense shall submit to the Committees on 20 Armed Services of the House of Representatives and 21 Senate a report on the practices for prescribing 22 medication during the period beginning January 1, 23 2012, and ending December 31, 2017, that were in- 24 consistent with the post-traumatic stress disorder 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:23 Mar 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1801.IH H1801 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 1801 IH medication guidelines developed by the Department 1 of Defense and the Veterans Health Administration. 2 (2) CONTENTS.—The report under this sub- 3 section shall include the following: 4 (A) A summary of the Army’s, the Navy’s, 5 and the Air Force’s practices for prescribing 6 medication during the period referred to in 7 paragraph (1) that were inconsistent with the 8 post-traumatic stress disorder medication guide- 9 lines developed by the Department of Defense 10 and the Veterans Health Administration. 11 (B) Identification of medical centers serv- 12 ing members of the Armed Forces found to 13 having higher than average incidences of pre- 14 scribing medication during the period referred 15 to in paragraph (1) that were inconsistent with 16 the post-traumatic stress disorder guidelines. 17 (C) A plan for such medical centers to re- 18 duce the prescribing of medications that are in- 19 consistent with the post-traumatic stress dis- 20 order guidelines. 21 (D) A plan for ongoing monitoring of med- 22 ical centers found to have higher than average 23 incidences of prescribing medication that were 24 inconsistent with the post-traumatic stress dis- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:23 Mar 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1801.IH H1801 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 1801 IH order guidelines by the Department of Defense 1 and the Veterans Health Administration. 2 (b) MONITORING PROGRAM.—Based on the findings 3 of the report under subsection (a), the Secretaries of the 4 Army, the Navy, and the Air Force shall each establish 5 a monitoring program carried out with respect to such 6 branch of the Armed Forces that shall provide as follows: 7 (1) The monitoring program shall provide for 8 the conduct of periodic reviews, beginning October 1, 9 2020, of medication prescribing practices of its own 10 providers. 11 (2) The monitoring program shall provide for 12 regular reports, beginning October 1, 2021, to the 13 Department of Defense and the Veterans Health Ad- 14 ministration, of the results of the periodic reviews 15 pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection. 16 (3) The monitoring program shall establish in- 17 ternal procedures, not later than October 1, 2021, to 18 address practices for prescribing medication that are 19 inconsistent with the post-traumatic stress disorder 20 medication guidelines developed by the Department 21 of Defense and the Veterans Health Administration. 22 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:23 Mar 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1801.IH H1801 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS