Reduce and Eliminate Mental Health Outpatient Veteran Copays Act

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 7589) to amend title 38, United States Code, to prohibit the imposition or collection of copayments for certain mental health outpatient care visits of veterans, and for other purposes, as amended.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material on H.R. 7589, as amended.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, as we all know, September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. I hope everyone has the new crisis hotline number, 988, saved on their phones. If you or a veteran you care about is in crisis, please dial 988, and press 1 to reach trained responders at the Veterans Crisis Line. Again, let me repeat the number. Dial 988 and press 1 to reach trained responders at the Veterans Crisis Line.

One component of a public health approach to veteran suicide prevention is ensuring that all of our Nation's heroes have access to timely, high-quality, effective mental health care.

Madam Speaker, I am so pleased to bring up my bill, H.R. 7589, as amended, the Reduce and Eliminate Mental Health Outpatient Veteran Copays or REMOVE Copays Act. We reported this bill favorably out of the Veterans' Affairs Committee last week on a bipartisan voice vote. I thank Ranking Member Bost for his support of this bill.

H.R. 7589 turns a legislative proposal from the Department of Veterans Affairs into a law that will make every enrolled veteran's first three outpatient mental health appointment at VA free every year. We know that what may seem like low copays can, in fact, be significant financial barriers for many veterans. Our goal is to knock down all barriers for veterans seeking and accessing mental health care at the

Madam Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, again, I ask all my colleagues to join me in passing H.R. 7589, as amended. I do thank my colleague, the ranking member. It is an example of standing our ground where we must and finding common ground where we can.

Lastly, I close by saying, please dial 988 and press 1 to reach trained responders at the Veterans Crisis Line.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 7589, the REMOVE Copays Act. As its name suggests, this bill would remove copayments from every veteran's first three mental health outpatient visits for each calendar year.

I am pleased to support the REMOVE Copays Act today, and I hope it will encourage veterans to take better care of their mental health. September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, and according to the most recent data from the VA, the amount of veterans who died by suicide decreased from 2019 to 2020.

That is encouraging news. However, at least one non-VA study suggests that VA is undercounting the number of veterans who die by suicide by as much as 2.4 times. I fear that VA's data still has not accounted for the negative effects of COVID lockdowns, isolation, and illness.

Regardless, as long as veterans continue to take their own lives, we have important work to do. Suicide is not just a mental health issue. Improving mental health has a critical role to play in stopping suicide once and for all.

I am grateful to Chairman Takano for his introduction of this bill, and I hope all of my colleagues will join me in supporting it today.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I encourage all of my colleagues to support the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.