Reduce and Eliminate Mental Health Outpatient Veteran Copays Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. BOST. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 7589, the REMOVE Copays Act. As its name suggests, this bill would remove copayments from every veteran's first three mental health outpatient visits for each calendar year.

I am pleased to support the REMOVE Copays Act today, and I hope it will encourage veterans to take better care of their mental health. September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, and according to the most recent data from the VA, the amount of veterans who died by suicide decreased from 2019 to 2020.

That is encouraging news. However, at least one non-VA study suggests that VA is undercounting the number of veterans who die by suicide by as much as 2.4 times. I fear that VA's data still has not accounted for the negative effects of COVID lockdowns, isolation, and illness.

Regardless, as long as veterans continue to take their own lives, we have important work to do. Suicide is not just a mental health issue. Improving mental health has a critical role to play in stopping suicide once and for all.

I am grateful to Chairman Takano for his introduction of this bill, and I hope all of my colleagues will join me in supporting it today.

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Mr. BOST. Madam Speaker, I encourage all of my colleagues to support the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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