1.Access to mental health care
of families of members of the National Guard and Reserve during their
mobilization, deployment, and demobilization
(a)Congress makes the following
findings:
(1)The members of
the National Guard and Reserve have made extraordinary contributions to
Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.
(2)The scope and
scale of recent mobilizations and deployments of members of the National Guard
and Reserve is unprecedented in the modern history of the Armed Forces.
(3)The frequency and
length of such mobilizations and deployments has placed significant strain on
the family members of deployed members.
(4)The Department of
Defense Task Force on Mental Health determined that family members of deployed
members of the National Guard and Reserve are more likely to experience mental
health challenges as a result of these mobilizations and deployments.
(5)The Department of
Defense Task Force on Mental Health also determined that family members of
deployed members of the National Guard and Reserve are less likely to have
ready access to mental health care during periods of deployment.
(6)Family members of
members of the National Guard and Reserve often live far from military
installations that are the primary locations for mental health care provided by
the Department of Defense.
(7)Adequate support
for family members of deployed members of the Armed Forces is critical to
maintaining morale, both on the battlefield and on the home front.
(b)It is the sense of
Congress that the Department of Defense should undertake appropriate actions to
ensure that family members of members of the National Guard and Reserve who are
deployed have full access to mental health care during the periods of
mobilization, deployment, and demobilization of such members of the National
Guard and Reserve.
(c)Initiative To
increase access to mental health care
(1)The Secretary of
Defense shall undertake a nationwide initiative intended to increase access to
mental health care for family members of members of the National Guard and
Reserve who are mobilized.
(2)The initiative shall include the
following:
(A)Programs and
activities to educate the family members of members of the National Guard and
Reserve who are mobilized on potential mental health challenges connected with
such mobilization.
(B)Programs and
activities to provide such family members with complete information on all
mental health care resources available to such family members through the
Department of Defense and otherwise.
(C)Requirements for
mental health counselors at military installations in communities with large
numbers of mobilized members of the National Guard and Reserve to expand the
reach of their counseling activities to include families of such members in
such communities.
(d)Mental health
care under TRICARE
(1)Under such regulations as the Secretary of Defense shall
prescribe, reimbursement shall be provided under the TRICARE program under
chapter 55 of title 10, United States Code, for any mental health care
specified in paragraph (3) that is provided to a family member of a covered
member of the National Guard or Reserve during the period of deployment of such
covered member of the National Guard or Reserve as described in paragraph
(2).
(2)Covered members
of the National Guard or ReserveFor purposes of this subsection,
a covered member of the National Guard or Reserve is any member of the National
Guard or Reserve on active duty for more than 30 days for a deployment in
connection with Operation Iraqi Freedom or Operation Enduring Freedom who,
while so on active duty, is covered by the TRICARE program on a for self and
family basis.
(3)The mental health care specified in this paragraph is mental
health care as follows:
(A)Mental health
care otherwise provided to covered dependents of members of the uniformed
services under the TRICARE program.
(B)Any mental health
care and treatment that is provided at a facility accredited by the Joint
Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.
(C)Any mental health
care and treatment that is provided at a facility accredited by a
State-accrediting institution, including a facility not otherwise recognized as
an authorized provider under the TRICARE program.
(D)Chemical
dependency treatment at any partial hospital program, substance-abuse disorder
rehabilitation facility, or residential treatment center accredited by the
Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations or by a
State-accrediting institution.
(4)This subsection shall
take effect on January 1, 2008.
(e)
(1)Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment
of this Act, and every 180 days thereafter, the Secretary of Defense shall
submit to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of
Representatives a report on this section.
(2)Each
report shall include the following:
(A)A current
assessment of the extent to which family members of members of the National
Guard and Reserve who are deployed have access to, and are utilizing, mental
health care available under this section.
(B)A current
assessment of the quality of mental health care being provided d to family
members of the National Guard and Reserve who are deployed at State-accredited
treatment centers.
(C)Such
recommendations for legislative or administrative action as the Secretary
considers appropriate in order to further assure full access by family members
of members of the National Guard and Reserve who are deployed to mental health
care during the mobilization, deployment, and demobilization of such members of
the National Guard and Reserve.