WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) and John Cornyn (R-TX) today introduced the Veterans Mental Health and Addiction Therapy Quality of Care Act, which would require an independent organization outside of the government to conduct a study to assess the quality of care veterans receive for mental and addiction health treatment from providers within and outside the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
“Every veteran must receive the care and services they need to address the risk of suicide and addiction,” said Dr. Cassidy. “There is no room for failure.”
“The brave men and women who served our nation should never be denied access to the high-quality care they deserve,” said Senator Cornyn. “This legislation recognizes the unique mental health challenges our veterans face and aims to improve the VA system by providing an independent evaluation of the quality of life we’re providing for our nation’s bravest.”
Cassidy and Cornyn were joined by U.S. Senators Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Susan Collins (R-ME), Gary Peters (D-MI), John Fetterman (D-PA) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) in introducing the bill.
The VA is home to the nation’s largest integrated health care system that provides comprehensive health services to U.S. military veterans who are enrolled. However, recent estimates indicate that as many as 70% of VA-eligible veterans received their care from external providers. Given the high rate of veteran suicide due to mental and addiction health conditions, a study is needed to better understand if current practices provide our veterans with the best mental and addiction quality of care.
The Veterans Mental Health and Addiction Therapy Quality of Care Act would require an independent and objective organization outside of the VA to conduct a study to:
- Analyze the results of comparable instances of addiction and mental health care between inside and outside providers using objective criteria such as symptom scores and suicide risk;
- Ascertain to what extent outside providers are using evidence-based practices in the treatment of addiction and mental health issues;
- Identify potential gaps in coordination between internal and external providers in responding to individuals seeking addiction or mental health care;
- Evaluate the availability of coordinated care for veterans who have separate or related conditions which may be impacting their mental health;
- Assess providers’ military cultural competency;
- Gauge the ease and flexibility of sharing medical records with a veteran’s health care team;
- Consider to what extent providers are conducting outcome monitoring throughout a veteran’s treatment to track progress or lack thereof;
- And measure overall patient satisfaction.
The legislation is supported by the Disabled American Veterans Association, the American Psychological Association, and the Veteran Health Care Policy Initiative.
###