Sponsors (2)
The bill sustains and strengthens veteran suicide-prevention funding, improves pathways to emergent VA care, expands prosthetic coverage, and preserves short-term pension stability — but it increases federal and VA program costs and adds administrative complexity and potential coordination or access delays.
Veterans at risk of suicide: the bill extends and funds the community suicide-prevention grant program through Sept 30, 2026 with explicit appropriations, ensuring continued local suicide-prevention services.
Veterans needing urgent mental-health or substance-use care: the bill requires grantees to inform veterans about eligibility for emergent VA care, notify VA when veterans elect such care, and creates a 72-hour backstop making individuals eligible if VA does not provide services within that period—improving timely access to urgent services.
Veterans who use prostheses: the bill expands VA coverage to include adaptive prostheses and sports/recreational terminal devices, improving mobility, rehabilitation options, and recreational participation.
Taxpayers: the bill authorizes roughly $226.5 million through FY2026 for the suicide-prevention program, increasing federal spending.
Community providers and hospitals: new notification and reporting requirements for grantees will add administrative and coordination burdens, increasing paperwork and operational costs for local providers.
Veterans and taxpayers: expanding VA coverage to include adaptive and recreational prosthetic devices will likely raise VA program costs, which could force tradeoffs with other services or budget priorities.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Extends and funds a VA suicide-prevention grant program with new emergent-care notification duties, clarifies coverage for recreational prostheses, and delays a pension-limit expiration date.
Introduced March 10, 2025 by Mariannette Miller-Meeks · Last progress May 22, 2025
Extends and reauthorizes a VA suicide-prevention grant program, adds duties for grant recipients to notify and refer people at risk for emergent suicide care (including a 72-hour backstop if VA does not provide care), and updates funding levels for the program through FY2026. It also clarifies that the VA may furnish adaptive prostheses and terminal devices for sports and recreational activities as part of medical services, and delays a statutory expiration date that limits certain pension payments. Also establishes a short title for the Act and makes technical edits to program eligibility and definitions; most changes affect veterans, providers and organizations that receive or administer the suicide-prevention grants, and beneficiaries of VA medical services and pensions.