REACH VET reporting Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7888 To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit to Congress a report on the REACH VET program. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 30, 2020 Ms. TORRES SMALL of New Mexico (for herself, Mrs. RADEWAGEN, and Mrs. LEE of Nevada) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit to Congress a report on the REACH VET program. 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 ‘‘REACH VET report- 4 ing Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. REPORT ON REACH VET PROGRAM OF DEPART- 6 MENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 8 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Vet- 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:09 Aug 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7888.IH H7888 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7888 IH erans Affairs shall submit to Congress a report on the 1 REACH VET program. 2 (b) ELEMENTS.—The report required by subsection 3 (a) shall include the following: 4 (1) An assessment of the impact of the REACH 5 VET program on rates of suicide among veterans. 6 (2) An assessment of how limits within the 7 REACH VET program, such as caps on the number 8 of veterans who may be flagged as high risk, are ad- 9 justed for differing rates of suicide across the coun- 10 try. 11 (3) A detailed explanation, with evidence, for 12 why the conditions included in the model used by the 13 REACH VET program were chosen, including an 14 explanation as to why certain conditions, such as bi- 15 polar disorder II, were not included even though 16 they show a similar rate of risk for suicide as other 17 conditions that were included. 18 (4) An assessment of the feasibility of incor- 19 porating certain economic data held by the Veterans 20 Benefits Administration into the model used by the 21 REACH VET program, including financial data and 22 employment status, which research indicates may 23 have an impact on risk for suicide. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:09 Aug 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7888.IH H7888 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7888 IH (c) REACH VET PROGRAM DEFINED.—In this sec- 1 tion, the term ‘‘REACH VET program’’ means the Recov- 2 ery Engagement and Coordination for Health—Veterans 3 Enhanced Treatment program of the Department of Vet- 4 erans Affairs. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:09 Aug 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7888.IH H7888 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS