U.S. Rep. Dave Loebsack introduced a bill Wednesday in the House of Representatives aimed at ensuring veterans have access to inpatient mental health care at Veterans Affairs hospitals.
Loebsack, D-Iowa City, alongside Republican Congressman Steve Stivers of Ohio, proposed the Never Again Act in response to Sgt. Brandon Ketchum’s suicide in July, according to a news release from Loebsack’s office. Ketchum, a Bettendorf veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, said in a Facebook post hours before his death that the Iowa City Veterans Affairs Health Care System denied him inpatient treatment while he was in crisis and requesting a bed.
“Simply put, under the Never Again Act, if a veteran asks for mental health care from the VA, they will get it,” the release says.
The proposed law would require VA hospitals to provide inpatient, psychiatric care to veterans enrolled in the health care system when requested, except when the hospital lacks capacity. It calls on hospitals to provide care at the VA facility closest to where the veteran resides. At VA hospitals where beds are not available, doctors would be required to refer veterans to non-VA facilities.
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