To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to furnish free and comprehensive mental health care to former members of the Armed Services, and for other purposes.

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 5027 To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to furnish free and comprehensive mental health care to former members of the Armed Services, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES NOVEMBER 8, 2019 Mr. SUOZZI introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Sec- retary of Veterans Affairs to furnish free and comprehen- sive mental health care to former members of the Armed Services, 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. FREE AND COMPREHENSIVE MENTAL HEALTH 3 CARE FOR VETERANS. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1720I of title 38, United 5 States Code, is amended to read as follows: 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 Nov 19, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5027.IH H5027 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 5027 IH ‘‘§ 1720I. Comprehensive mental health care for 1 former members of the Armed Forces 2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall furnish com- 3 prehensive mental health care at no cost to any former 4 member of the Armed Forces. 5 ‘‘(b) FORMER MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES.— 6 In this section, the term ‘former member of the Armed 7 Forces’ includes the following: 8 ‘‘(1) A veteran described in section 101(2) of 9 this title. 10 ‘‘(2) An individual not described in paragraph 11 (1) who— 12 ‘‘(A) served as a member of the Armed 13 Forces, including the reserve components there- 14 of; and 15 ‘‘(B) was discharged or released from such 16 service without regard to— 17 ‘‘(i) the period of active duty service 18 of the individual; or 19 ‘‘(ii) the character of discharge or re- 20 lease of the individual.’’. 21 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 22 at the beginning of chapter 17 of title 38, United States 23 Code, is amended by striking the item relating to section 24 1720I and inserting the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 Nov 19, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5027.IH H5027 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 5027 IH ‘‘1720I. Comprehensive mental health care for former members of the Armed Forces.’’. (c) EXPANSION OF READJUSTMENT COUNSELING 1 AND RELATED MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES.—Section 2 1712A(a)(1)(C) of title 38, United States Code, is amend- 3 ed by adding at the end the following new clause: 4 ‘‘(vi) Any former member of the Armed Forces 5 described in section 1720I(b) of this title.’’. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 Nov 19, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H5027.IH H5027 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS