Sponsor
Scott Perry
Representative · R-PA
Representative · R-PA
The bill expands TRICARE coverage and provider access to an interventional PTSD treatment and mandates rapid clinical guidance updates—improving options and guidance for service members while raising costs, exposing some patients to an invasive treatment with uncertain long‑term benefit, and risking short‑term implementation strain.
Active-duty and reserve service members and other TRICARE beneficiaries diagnosed with PTSD can receive stellate ganglion block (SGB) treatment through TRICARE—either at military medical facilities or from qualified TRICARE providers—with informed consent, expanding covered treatment options.
VA/DoD PTSD clinical guidance must be updated within 180 days to include indications and contraindications for SGB, giving clinicians clearer, standardized guidance for when and how to use the treatment.
Many TRICARE/DoD beneficiaries gaining coverage for SGB could raise DoD/TRICARE healthcare spending, potentially requiring reallocation of defense medical budgets or increasing costs for taxpayers.
Some service members may undergo an invasive procedure (SGB) whose long‑term effectiveness for PTSD remains under study, exposing patients to procedural risks and uncertain benefit.
The requirement to implement coverage and update guidelines within 180 days could strain clinical training and provider availability, producing short‑term access bottlenecks or uneven rollout across facilities.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires DoD/TRICARE to furnish stellate ganglion block (SGB) for PTSD to eligible, consenting service members and updates VA/DoD PTSD treatment guidance.
Requires the Department of Defense to offer stellate ganglion block (SGB) therapy to active duty and reserve service members enrolled in TRICARE who have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and choose SGB after informed consent. Directs the Secretary of Defense to update the VA/DoD Clinical Practice Guideline for Management of PTSD within 180 days to reflect SGB availability and relevant clinical indicators and contraindications, and to notify congressional defense committees when the guideline is updated. The new authority becomes effective 180 days after enactment.
Official title: To direct the Secretary of Defense to furnish stellate ganglion block to members of the Armed Forces with post-traumatic stress disorder, and for other purposes.
Introduced May 12, 2026 by Scott Perry · Last progress May 12, 2026