[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2673 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2673
To amend title 10, United States Code, to provide for eating disorders
treatment for members and certain former members of the uniformed
services, and dependents of such members, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
October 23, 2019
Mrs. Shaheen (for herself, Ms. McSally, Ms. Hirono, and Mrs. Capito)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on Armed Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title 10, United States Code, to provide for eating disorders
treatment for members and certain former members of the uniformed
services, and dependents of such members, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Supporting Eating Disorders Recovery
Through Vital Expansion Act'' or the ``SERVE Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Eating disorders affect approximately 30,000,000
Americans, including individuals from every age, gender, body
size, race, and socioeconomic status.
(2) Eating disorders include anorexia nervosa, bulimia
nervosa, binge-eating disorder, avoidant restrictive intake
disorder, and other specified feeding or eating disorders.
(3) Eating disorders result in the highest mortality rate
of any psychiatric illness, and the suicide rate for
individuals with such disorders is 23 percent higher than the
suicide rate for the general population.
(4) Research demonstrates that--
(A) eating disorders often co-occur with complex
medical conditions, mental illnesses, and substance use
disorders; and
(B) up to 35 percent of individuals with a
substance use disorder have a co-occurring eating
disorder.
(5) Studies indicate that there is a higher prevalence of
eating disorders among members of the Armed Forces and veterans
than among the general population.
(6) Family members of members of the Armed Forces have a
higher prevalence of eating disorders than the general
population, with 20 percent of children of members of the Armed
Forces found at risk of developing an eating disorder.
(7) Research has found a significant relationship between
eating disorders and members of the Armed Forces and veterans
with a history of post-traumatic stress and sexual trauma.
(8) Female members of the Armed Forces have a particularly
high risk for an eating disorder, as studies have found that 16
percent of such members have an eating disorder and 34 percent
of such members are at risk of developing an eating disorder.
SEC. 3. EATING DISORDERS TREATMENT FOR DEPENDENTS.
Section 1077 of title 10, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)(5), by inserting ``, including, in
accordance with subsection (i), eating disorders'' after
``chronic conditions''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
``(i)(1) The provision of health care services for an eating
disorder under subsection (a)(5) shall include treatment at facilities
providing the following hospital-based or freestanding services:
``(A) Inpatient services.
``(B) Residential services.
``(C) Partial hospitalization services.
``(D) Intensive outpatient services.
``(E) Outpatient services.
``(2) A dependent may be provided health care services for an
eating disorder under subsection (a)(5) without regard to the age of
the dependent.
``(3) Treatment may be provided under paragraph (1) at a
freestanding facility only if the facility--
``(A) is certified to provide such treatment under the
TRICARE program; and
``(B) provides to the Secretary of Defense verifiable
outcome measurements demonstrating clinical improvement of
patients when reasonably possible to collect such measurements.
``(4) In this section, the term `eating disorder' has the meaning
given that term in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
Disorders, 5th Edition (or successor edition), published by the
American Psychiatric Association.''.
SEC. 4. IDENTIFICATION AND TREATMENT OF EATING DISORDERS FOR MEMBERS OF
THE ARMED FORCES.
Section 1090 of title 10, United States Code, is amended--
(1) by striking ``The Secretary of Defense'' and inserting
the following:
``(a) Identification and Treatment of Eating Disorders and Drug and
Alcohol Dependence.--The Secretary of Defense'';
(2) by inserting ``have an eating disorder or'' before
``are dependent on drugs or alcohol''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following new subsections:
``(b) Facilities Available to Individuals With Eating Disorders.--
For purposes of this section, necessary facilities described in
subsection (a) shall include the facilities described in section
1077(i)(1) of this title.
``(c) Eating Disorder Defined.--In this section, the term `eating
disorder' has the meaning given that term in section 1077(i)(4) of this
title.''.
SEC. 5. MENTAL HEALTH EARLY IDENTIFICATION TRAINING.
Section 1090a of title 10, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in subsection (b)--
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``and'' at the
end;
(B) in paragraph (2), by striking the period at the
end and inserting ``; and''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following new
paragraph:
``(3) require commanders and supervisory personnel to
undertake mental health early identification training.''; and
(2) in subsection (e), by adding at the end the following
new paragraph:
``(4) The term `mental health early identification
training' means training designed to educate the trainee on--
``(A) warning signs and symptoms of mental health
illness, including an eating disorder; and
``(B) how to refer an individual for mental health
treatment.''.
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