Prevention of Mental Health Discrimination During Military Accession Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3807 To enhance the prevention of mental health discrimination against individuals during accession into the Armed Forces, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 21, 2020 Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself and Ms. BALDWIN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services A BILL To enhance the prevention of mental health discrimination against individuals during accession into the Armed Forces, 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 ‘‘Prevention of Mental 4 Health Discrimination During Military Accession Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:15 Jun 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3807.IS S3807 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3807 IS SEC. 2. MEDICAL WAIVERS FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH MEN- 1 TAL HEALTH CONDITIONS AS MINORS UNDER 2 STANDARDS FOR APPOINTMENT, ENLIST- 3 MENT, OR INDUCTION IN THE ARMED 4 FORCES. 5 (a) MEDICAL WAIVERS.—Department of Defense In- 6 struction 6130.03, relating to standards for appointment, 7 enlistment, or induction in the Armed Forces, shall be 8 modified to eliminate, to the extent practicable, undue dis- 9 crimination against individuals with covered mental health 10 conditions (including, in particular, individuals with a 11 temporary or adolescent diagnosis of a mental health con- 12 dition and showing demonstrable improvement) through 13 such modifications to medical waiver standards and proc- 14 esses under that Instruction as the Under Secretary of 15 Defense for Personnel and Readiness, in consultation with 16 appropriate mental health practitioners, considers appro- 17 priate. 18 (b) LIBERAL CONSIDERATION OF MILITARY FAMILY 19 LIFE IN ISSUANCE OF MEDICAL WAIVER FOR MENTAL 20 HEALTH CONDITIONS.— 21 (1) IN GENERAL.—In determining whether to 22 issue a waiver of the standards for appointment, en- 23 listment, or induction in the Armed Forces for an 24 individual with a prior covered mental health condi- 25 tion who was raised (in whole or in part) in a mili- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:15 Jun 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3807.IS S3807 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3807 IS tary family for purposes of authorization of the ap- 1 pointment, enlistment, or induction of such indi- 2 vidual in the Armed Forces, the Surgeon General of 3 the military department concerned shall give liberal 4 consideration in such individual’s favor to the poten- 5 tial role of the challenges of military family life in 6 such condition. 7 (2) REVIEW IN CASE OF DENIAL.— 8 (A) IN GENERAL.—If an individual de- 9 scribed in paragraph (1) is denied appointment, 10 enlistment, or induction in the Armed Forces 11 based in whole or in part on a covered mental 12 health condition notwithstanding the liberal 13 consideration required by that paragraph, the 14 Secretary of the military department concerned 15 shall— 16 (i) provide for the review of the denial 17 on such basis by a qualified mental health 18 care provider; and 19 (ii) if the provider determines that the 20 denial was unwarranted, authorize the ap- 21 pointment, enlistment, or induction of the 22 individual in the Armed Forces (unless ap- 23 pointment, enlistment, or induction of the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:15 Jun 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3807.IS S3807 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3807 IS individual remains unwarranted on some 1 other basis). 2 (B) MENTAL HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.— 3 For purposes of this paragraph, a mental 4 health care provider is any psychiatrist, psy- 5 chologist, mental health nurse practitioner, li- 6 censed social worker, or other licensed mental 7 health care provider in the military health sys- 8 tem. 9 (3) GUIDANCE.—Each military department 10 shall carry out this subsection in accordance with 11 guidance issued by the Secretary of such military de- 12 partment for purposes of this subsection. 13 (c) ASSESSMENTS OF FREQUENCY OF DENIAL OF 14 MEDICAL WAIVERS FOR MENTAL HEALTH CONDI- 15 TIONS.— 16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense 17 shall conduct an assessment of the medical waivers 18 of standards for appointment, enlistment, or induc- 19 tion in the Armed Forces that have been requested 20 and issued under section 5.28 of Department of De- 21 fense Instruction 6103.03 during the five-year pe- 22 riod ending on the date of the enactment of this Act 23 in order to determine whether, and the extent to 24 which, individuals with a covered mental health con- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:15 Jun 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3807.IS S3807 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3807 IS dition are disproportionately denied enlistment or in- 1 duction into the Armed Forces due to such condi- 2 tion. 3 (2) ELEMENTS.—Each assessment under para- 4 graph (1) shall include the following: 5 (A) A description of the number of minor 6 military dependents whose medical records were 7 accessed in connection with requests for and 8 issuance of medical waivers as described in 9 paragraph (1). 10 (B) A description of the number of mili- 11 tary dependents who were denied appointment, 12 enlistment, or induction in the Armed Forces 13 based on information in their medical records 14 as minors. 15 (C) A description of the number of military 16 dependents enlisted or inducted into the Armed 17 Forces who have been separated or released 18 from the Armed Forces following the merger of 19 their dependent and member medical records. 20 (D) An assessment whether the policies on 21 medical waivers of the standards referred to in 22 paragraph (1) in connection with psychiatric 23 disorders deter military family members from 24 seeking mental health care. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:15 Jun 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3807.IS S3807 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 3807 IS (d) COVERED MENTAL HEALTH CONDITION DE- 1 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘covered mental health 2 condition’’ means a mental health condition appearing or 3 diagnosed while the individual concerned was a minor. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:15 Jun 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S3807.IS S3807 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS