Sponsors (5)
The bill expands annual mental health outreach and consultation opportunities for veterans receiving compensation—potentially improving access and providing oversight data—while creating administrative costs, risks of benefit reevaluation, and the possibility that poor implementation could limit real gains.
Veterans with service-connected mental health conditions will be offered at least one annual mental health consultation to assess needs and discuss care options.
Those veterans will receive outreach about available consultations and other VA mental health services, which should increase awareness and uptake of care.
GAO must report within two years on counts of veterans receiving consultations/outreach and on reported barriers, giving Congress data to oversee program effectiveness.
The provision permits reevaluation of a veteran's entitlement to compensation, which could lead to benefit reassessments and cause worry or loss of benefits for some recipients.
If outreach and consultation offers are not effectively implemented, veterans may still face persistent barriers (awareness, access, stigma) and fail to get needed care.
Requiring annual offers and outreach could increase VA administrative workload and costs, potentially diverting resources from other services.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires VA to offer at least one annual mental health consultation to veterans compensated for service‑connected mental health disabilities and to conduct outreach; GAO must report within two years.
Requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to offer at least one mental health consultation each year to any veteran who is receiving compensation for a service-connected mental health disability, and to conduct outreach about those consultations and other VA mental health services. Directs the Government Accountability Office to report within two years on how many veterans received consultations and on reported barriers to access; also makes technical changes to statutory section numbering and permits reevaluation of compensation entitlement when necessary.
Introduced June 10, 2025 by Nikki Budzinski · Last progress June 10, 2025