II
118THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION S. 2359
To require a report on military health care referral policies.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
JULY18, 2023
Mr. O
SSOFFintroduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred
to the Committee on Armed Services
A BILL
To require a report on military health care referral policies.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Servicemember Mental 4
Health Support Act of 2023’’. 5
SEC. 2. REPORT ON MILITARY MENTAL HEALTH CARE RE-6
FERRAL POLICIES. 7
(a) R
EPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 8
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense 9
shall submit to the congressional defense committees a re-10
port— 11
VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:55 Aug 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2359.IS S2359
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2
•S 2359 IS
(1) detailing the mental health care referral 1
policies of the Armed Forces; and 2
(2) the impact of removing primary care refer-3
ral requirements for outpatient mental health care 4
on— 5
(A) military readiness; 6
(B) the uptake of outpatient mental health 7
care services by members of the Armed Forces; 8
and 9
(C) suicide prevention. 10
(b) R
ECOMMENDATIONS .—The report required by 11
subsection (a) shall include recommendations and legisla-12
tive proposals— 13
(1) to improve resources and access for out-14
patient mental health care services by members of 15
the Armed Forces; 16
(2) to encourage the uptake of such services by 17
such members; and 18
(3) to maintain military readiness. 19
Æ
VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:55 Aug 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2359.IS S2359
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS