Sponsors (5)
The bill increases outreach and offers annual voluntary mental‑health consultations to compensated veterans and adds oversight to improve access, trading improved care and transparency for added VA administrative costs and potential concerns about intrusive contact for some veterans.
Veterans receiving compensation for service-connected mental health conditions will be offered an annual mental health consultation to assess needs and discuss care options, increasing chances they get appropriate treatment.
Compensated veterans will receive annual VA outreach informing them about consultations and other mental health services, increasing awareness of and access to care.
Compensated veterans and beneficiaries are protected from outreach or participating in consultations triggering mandatory reevaluation of benefits, reducing fear that seeking help will jeopardize compensation.
Taxpayers and veterans may face higher costs because annual outreach and consultations require additional VA administrative and staffing resources, potentially straining budgets or diverting funds from other services.
Some veterans may experience the increased outreach or repeat contact as intrusive or burdensome, creating privacy and quality-of-life concerns despite protections against benefits reevaluation.
The GAO report could identify barriers that prompt program changes requiring new funding, creating additional taxpayer costs or competing budget priorities.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires VA to offer annual mental health consultations and conduct annual outreach for veterans compensated for service‑connected mental health disabilities, plus a GAO report within two years.
Introduced June 10, 2025 by Nikki Budzinski · Last progress June 10, 2025
Requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to offer an annual mental health consultation and conduct annual outreach to veterans who receive compensation for a service‑connected mental health disability. The bill also requires the Government Accountability Office to report within two years on how the outreach and consultations are being carried out, including counts and identified barriers. Clarifies that providing outreach or offering consultations will not by itself trigger a mandatory reevaluation of a veteran’s compensation entitlement, and makes related technical and clerical changes to the U.S. Code.