{"id":53393,"date":"2019-11-05T20:58:57","date_gmt":"2019-11-05T20:58:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/11\/05\/house-lawmakers-plan-to-push-ahead-on-veterans-mental-health-expansion-plan-if-they-can-get-past-their-squabbles\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T09:20:07","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T09:20:07","slug":"house-lawmakers-plan-to-push-ahead-on-veterans-mental-health-expansion-plan-if-they-can-get-past-their-squabbles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/veterans\/2019\/11\/05\/house-lawmakers-plan-to-push-ahead-on-veterans-mental-health-expansion-plan-if-they-can-get-past-their-squabbles\/","title":{"rendered":"House lawmakers plan to push ahead on veterans mental health expansion plan. If they can get past their squabbles."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A bill to dramatically expand private-sector <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/10\/09\/new-veteran-suicide-numbers-raise-concerns-among-experts-hoping-for-positive-news\/\" target=\"_blank\">mental health care for veterans<\/a> that has been at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/10\/29\/veterans-legislation-dispute-prompts-republican-walk-out-on-capitol-hill\/\" target=\"_blank\">center of partisan attacks among House Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee members<\/a> will be the focus of a closed-door congressional roundtable on Nov. 13.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lawmakers are hoping to craft a compromise plan and ease tensions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Last week, Republican members of the committee stormed out of a heated mark-up after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2018\/12\/31\/incoming-chairmans-top-goal-for-2019-building-up-va-not-outside-care-programs\/\" target=\"_blank\">Chairman Mark Takano<\/a>, D-Calif., refused to allow minority party amendments on proposal for women veterans program reforms. Among the Republican complaints was that one mental health bill, dubbed the Improve Act, has languished in the committee for months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The bill, which has drawn support from both Republicans and Democrats, would award grants to private-sector mental health experts in an effort to provide quicker and more convenient treatments for veterans in distress. Supporters have argued it could be a valuable new tool in the effort to reduce veterans suicide.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/10\/29\/veterans-legislation-dispute-prompts-republican-walk-out-on-capitol-hill\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP_19119808905535.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Veterans legislation dispute prompts Republican walk-out on Capitol Hill<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The fight over veterans policy bills is linked to the House&#039;s ongoing impeachment investigation.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The concept is modeled after the Housing and Urban Development-VA Supportive Housing grants established a decade ago, which give federal dollars to local support groups who provide direct housing support to veterans. That program has been lauded as a major advance in how VA care is delivered to veterans, helping significantly reduce the homelessness numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">White House officials have voiced support for the idea for mental health, and the idea is among several key areas of focus for the interagency task force looking at new solutions to the veterans suicide problem. Their report on new approaches is due next spring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But bill sponsors have argued that Congress can\u2019t wait that long to act. According to the latest VA estimates, about 17 veterans a day die by suicide, along with another four active-duty troops, guardsmen and reservists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a letter to House leaders earlier this fall, VA Secretary Robert Wilkie called the legislation a chance \u201cto get at the root causes of the suicide crisis in the nation.\u201d Committee ranking member Rep. Phil Roe, R-Tenn., said before that walk out that \u201clives are at risk\u201d with every day the legislation is delayed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Takano said he still has concerns about the legislation, particularly what oversight and standards will be established for groups receiving the grants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe need new solutions that will increase coordination among community-based nonclinical services, improve the quality of life for veterans and their families, and help prevent veteran suicide as a result,\u201d Takano said in a statement Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHowever, to ensure veterans have access to these services, we must ensure the infrastructure exists to connect veterans with the community-based organizations seeking to serve them and that critical accountability and quality assurance measures are in place.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/10\/09\/new-veteran-suicide-numbers-raise-concerns-among-experts-hoping-for-positive-news\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/4018590.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">New veteran suicide numbers raise concerns among experts hoping for positive news<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">About 17 veterans a day die by suicide, a number that has stayed steady over a decade.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The debate also has echoes of earlier fights over sending VA health care dollars to private-sector physicians, which have prompted fears among critics of the administration looking to privatize parts of the department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Veterans groups have been divided on the issue, with some fiercely backing the legislation and others warning caution about too freely awarding grants. Takano said he hopes to find a compromise on the legislation in coming weeks, starting with the roundtable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It will also serve as the first full meeting for the committee since the walk-out, which prompted accusations of partisanship and unseemly behavior from members of both parties. Such political fights are common in many committees but not so on the veterans panel, which infrequently faces party-line votes at mark-ups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>Veterans experiencing a mental health emergency can contact the Veteran Crisis Line at 1-800-273-8255 and select option 1 for a VA staffer. Veterans, troops or their family members can also text 838255 or visit <\/i><a href=\"http:\/\/veteranscrisisline.net\/\" target=_blank><i>VeteransCrisisLine.net<\/i><\/a><i> for assistance.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Improve Act, which would give grants to mental health providers outside VA, will be the focus of a closed-door session.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":37881,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":19,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,12,26,62,19],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3222],"class_list":["post-53393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress","category-veterans"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"KK4RA7MQUJD2VDWS2NX7WA7GRM","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/11\/05\/house-lawmakers-plan-to-push-ahead-on-veterans-mental-health-expansion-plan-if-they-can-get-past-their-squabbles\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>House lawmakers plan to push ahead on veterans mental health expansion plan. 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If they can get past their squabbles.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Improve Act, which would give grants to mental health providers outside VA, will be the focus of a closed-door session.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/veterans\/2019\/11\/05\/house-lawmakers-plan-to-push-ahead-on-veterans-mental-health-expansion-plan-if-they-can-get-past-their-squabbles\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Navy Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-11-05T20:58:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T09:20:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Leo Shane III\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Leo Shane III\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/veterans\\\/2019\\\/11\\\/05\\\/house-lawmakers-plan-to-push-ahead-on-veterans-mental-health-expansion-plan-if-they-can-get-past-their-squabbles\\\/#article\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/veterans\\\/2019\\\/11\\\/05\\\/house-lawmakers-plan-to-push-ahead-on-veterans-mental-health-expansion-plan-if-they-can-get-past-their-squabbles\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"author\": {\n\t                \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"headline\": \"House lawmakers plan to push ahead on veterans mental health expansion plan. 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