Commander John Scott Hannon Veterans Mental Health Care Improvement Act of 2019
Latest action. Became public lawWhat a bill becomes when enacted, numbered by Congress and order of enactment: Public Law 119-4 is the 4th law of the 119th Congress.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) No: 116-171.
Commander John Scott Hannon Veterans Mental Health Care Improvement Act of 2019
This bill makes updates related to Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) transition assistance, mental health care, care for women veterans, and telehealth care.
TITLE I--IMPROVEMENT OF TRANSITION OF INDIVIDUALS TO SERVICES FROM DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
(Sec. 101) This section requires the VA to submit a plan for the provision of VA health care to any veteran during the one-year period following the discharge or release from active military, naval, or air service.
(Sec. 102) The Department of Defense (DOD) and the VA must jointly review and report on the records of each former member of the Armed Forces who died by suicide within one year of separation from the Armed Forces during the five-year period preceding the enactment of this bill.
(Sec. 103) The VA must report on the Recovery Engagement and Coordination for Health—Veterans Enhanced Treatment (REACH VET) program to assess, among other elements, the impact of the program on rates of suicide among veterans.
(Sec. 104) This section updates reporting requirements related to the mental and behavioral health care provided by the VA to former members of the Armed Forces with other than honorable discharge.
TITLE II--SUICIDE PREVENTION
(Sec. 201) This section establishes the Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program, under which the VA must award grants for a period of three years to eligible entities for the provision of suicide prevention services to veterans and their families. A nongovernmental entity must conduct a study on the provision of such grants to evaluate the effectiveness.
In certain circumstances, entities receiving grants must refer eligible individuals for additional care at the VA. If it is clinically appropriate, the VA must provide an individual receiving suicide prevention services through a grant with a mental health care assessment or services. If an individual refuses such care, ongoing clinical services provided by a grantee must be at the expense of the grantee.
The summary continues for 40 more paragraphs. Read it in full on Congress.gov
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Public Law" stage on October 17, 2020. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
This bill has been enacted. It is law.
The record's latest action, on October 17, 2020: Became Public Law No: 116-171.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Jon Tester (D-MT) introduced it on March 13, 2019, and 53 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 34 Democrats, 18 Republicans, 1 independent.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- SenatePassed
- HousePassed
- PresidentSigned into law