Hoeven touts advancement of bill to improve VA mental health care

U.S. Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) applauded action by the U.S. Senate, which on Aug. 5 passed a bipartisan bill he supports to improve mental health treatment provided by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

“Our veterans deserve access to the best care, and this legislation we’ve advanced takes important steps to strengthen the VA’s mental healthcare options,” Sen. Hoeven said. “We welcome the legislation’s passage in the Senate, and will continue our efforts to ensure our veterans receive the benefits and recognition they have earned.”

The Senate gave voice vote approval to the Commander John Scott Hannon Veterans Mental Health Care Improvement Act of 2019, S. 785, introduced in March 2019 by bill sponsor U.S. Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) and cosponsored by Sen. Hoeven in February.

If enacted, S. 785 would improve the VA’s programs, studies and guidelines on mental health, including by studying the connection between living at high altitude and suicide risk factors among U.S. military veterans; updating clinical practice guidelines for assessment and management of patients at risk for suicide; and establishing a precision medicine initiative at the VA to identify and validate brain and mental health biomarkers, according to the text of the bill. 

Additionally, S. 785 would bolster oversight of mental health care and related services at the VA and would hold the department accountable for its mental health care and suicide prevention efforts, according to a bill summary provided by Sen. Hoeven’s office, and would give the VA direct hiring authority for more mental health professionals, among numerous other provisions.

“Importantly, the bill supports access to alternative treatments for PTS [post-traumatic stress] and other mental health challenges, like we’ve worked to do under the HBOT [hyperbaric oxygen therapy] demonstration project at the Fargo VA,” said Sen. Hoeven.

The U.S. House of Representatives on Aug. 7 received S. 785 for consideration.