Sgt. Brandon Ketchum Never Again Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2997 To amend title 38, United States Code, to ensure that certain veterans receive in-patient psychiatric care provided by the Department of Vet- erans Affairs. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 23, 2019 Mr. LOEBSACK (for himself, Mr. STIVERS, Mrs. BUSTOS, Ms. FINKENAUER, Mrs. AXNE, Mr. VELA, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. MCCAUL, Ms. GABBARD, Mrs. DINGELL, Mr. SOTO, Mr. GAETZ, Mr. COOPER, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. RYAN, Mr. KATKO, Mr. GIBBS, Mr. HIMES, Mr. COX of California, Mr. SWALWELL of California, Ms. SHERRILL, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. LUJA´N, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Mr. GALLEGO, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. OLSON, Mr. YOUNG, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. LOFGREN, and Mr. VEASEY) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Vet- erans’ Affairs A BILL To amend title 38, United States Code, to ensure that cer- tain veterans receive in-patient psychiatric care provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs. 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 ‘‘Sgt. Brandon Ketchum 4 Never Again Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:42 Jun 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2997.IH H2997 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2997 IH SEC. 2. PROVISION OF IN-PATIENT PSYCHIATRIC CARE FOR 1 VETERANS. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 17 of title 38, United 3 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 1720I 4 the following new section: 5 ‘‘§ 1720J. Provision of in-patient psychiatric care 6 ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT TO FURNISH CARE.—Except as 7 provided by subsection (b), upon the request of a covered 8 veteran, the Secretary shall furnish, or continue to fur- 9 nish, to the covered veteran in-patient psychiatric care at 10 the facility of the Department that— 11 ‘‘(1) is closest to where the veteran resides; and 12 ‘‘(2) has the capacity and capability to provide 13 such care. 14 ‘‘(b) NON-DEPARTMENT FACILITIES.—(1) If the 15 Secretary determines, on a case-by-case basis, that a facil- 16 ity of the Department does not have the capability or ca- 17 pacity to furnish in-patient psychiatric care to a covered 18 veteran pursuant to subsection (a), the Secretary shall 19 furnish such care to such veteran at a non-Department 20 facility. 21 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall determine the rates of pay- 22 ment for a non-Department facility that furnishes in-pa- 23 tient psychiatric care pursuant to paragraph (1) in accord- 24 ance with the rates paid by the United States under sec- 25 tion 1703(i) of this title. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:42 Jun 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2997.IH H2997 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2997 IH ‘‘(c) COVERED VETERAN DEFINED.—In this section, 1 the term ‘covered veteran’ means a veteran who is— 2 ‘‘(1) enrolled in the health care system estab- 3 lished under section 1705(a) of this title; and 4 ‘‘(2) entitled to in-patient psychiatric care fur- 5 nished by the Secretary under this chapter.’’. 6 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 7 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting 8 after the item relating to section 1720I the following new 9 item: 10 ‘‘1720J. Provision of in-patient psychiatric care.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:42 Jun 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2997.IH H2997 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS