[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 82 (Thursday, May 29, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E876]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




HOWARD P. ``BUCK'' McKEON NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL 
                               YEAR 2015

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. JOHN B. LARSON

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 21, 2014

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the state of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 4435) to 
     authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2015 for military 
     activities of the Department of Defense and for military 
     construction, to prescribe military personnel strengths for 
     such fiscal year, and for other purposes:

  Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. Mr. Chair, I rise today to thank Chairman 
McKeon and Ranking Member Smith for including an amendment that I 
offered with Rep. Tom Rooney in en bloc amendment #7 and I urge my 
colleagues to support its passage.
  Mr. Speaker, Mr. Rooney and I, along with other colleagues like Rep. 
Walter Jones have been engaged in an effort for several years now to 
ensure that children with developmental disabilities that are covered 
by TRICARE, can access the behavioral health treatment that they 
require. It was an issue that was brought to my attention by a 
constituent whose husband is in the military and who has a child with a 
developmental disability. The challenges her family faces however, are 
also unfortunately experienced by numerous military families across the 
country.
  While TRICARE does provide access to a multitude of services for 
families, there are limitations on them from fully accessing the 
appropriate level of care for their children for a behavioral health 
treatment known as applied behavior analysis (ABA). Currently families 
must navigate a complicated web of programs within TRICARE, each with 
eligibility or coverage limitations, in order to get access to 
treatment. In addition, children with developmental disabilities do not 
have access. Our amendment simply seeks to streamline coverage for 
these services as a medical benefit under TRICARE Basic, which would 
ensure access to these services for the dependents of both active duty 
and non-active duty beneficiaries.
  These are families that have sacrificed a great deal in the service 
of our nation, and it is our obligation to make sure that their 
children get the health care services that they need. This amendment is 
designed to do just that. Many children with developmental disabilities 
require other types of treatment such as habilitative and 
rehabilitative services like speech, occupational, and physical therapy 
that are already covered by TRICARE. However, because of the current 
restrictions, there are cases where some of these children are not able 
to access the prescribed level of ABA treatment. I want to make it 
clear that this amendment will not, nor is intended to, alter any 
services that a child's team of health providers deem necessary and are 
currently covered, like those already mentioned, but simply ensures 
that they can get the ABA services that they've been prescribed. In 
addition, as mentioned in the amendment we believe that amounts should 
be appropriated to ensure that all TRICARE beneficiaries have 
appropriate and equitable access to behavioral health treatment, 
including ABA.
  This is just simply the right thing to do for our military families 
who have sacrificed so much in the service of our country. Once again, 
I thank my colleagues for their support on this important issue on 
behalf of military families across this country.

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