S.Amdt. 1665

SA 1665. Mr. CASEY submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 1390, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2010 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for the defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the appropriate place in title VII, insert the following:

SEC. __. FUNDING FOR MENTAL HEALTH CARE FOR MEMBERS OF THE NATIONAL GUARD.

(a) Availability of Defense Health Program Funds.--Subject to the provisions of appropriations Acts, amounts available for Defense Health Program shall be available for programs described in subsection (b) for members of the National Guard not on active duty in the Armed Forces who incurred a psychological or mental illness or injury on active duty in the Armed Forces as demonstrated by existing medical records or, in the absence of such records, by the opinion of a licensed medical provider in the State where the member resides.

(b) Covered Programs.--The programs described in this subsection are programs as follows:

(1) Programs to assist members of the National Guard described in subsection (a) in case management in the receipt of non-clinical care for an illness or injury described in that subsection.

(2) Programs to advise members of the National Guard described in subsection (a) on the receipt of care and treatment for an illness or injury described in that subsection under the TRICARE program.

(3) Programs of psychological health treatment for members of the National Guard described in subsection (a) for an illness or injury described in that subsection.

(4) Programs supporting the efforts of the military departments to update and maintain military health electronic records systems.

(5) Such other treatment programs as may assist a member of the National Guard described in subsection (a) for an illness or injury described in that subsection, as determined by the State Surgeon General of the National Guard of the State in which the member reside, the Director of Psychological Health of the State in which the member resides, the mental health or equivalent agency of the State in which the member resides, or the Director of the Psychological Health Program of the National Guard Bureau.

(c) Budgeting.--The Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs shall coordinate with the National Guard Bureau and other personnel and logistical elements of the National Guard in determining the budget requirements of the National Guard for the programs described in subsection (b).