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Mental health bill finds new urgency

Monday’s shooting of five American service members at a mental health counseling center in Baghdad has brought new attention to a bill introduced March 3 to spend more on mandatory, confidential mental health screening for all deployed service members.

The short-term goal is a $300 million increase in mental health funding, which could be used to do screening before, during and after deployments to identify people under stress and get them early treatment.

HR 1308, the Veterans’ Mental Health Screening and Assessment Act of 2009, deals only with mandatory post-deployment screening by trained and licensed professionals within 90 days of a service member’s return to the U.S. Screening would be done face-to-face by defense or veterans mental health professionals.

The bill is pending before the House veterans affairs and armed services committees, which both have a say in approval.

Reps. Michael McMahon, D-N.Y., and Thomas Rooney, R-Fla., original sponsors of HR 1308, are now leading a bigger effort that involves an appeal to the House Appropriations Committee for more mental health funding in the 2010 defense budget.

McMahon and Rooney collected about 50 signatures from other lawmakers on a letter sent Wednesday to the appropriations committee asking for more money, a request that the letter says is a response to the shooting deaths of five people at Camp Liberty — allegedly by a fellow soldier who was undergoing counseling — and because of a continued increase in suicides in the Army.

“If we do not provide adequate mental health care to our soldiers and veterans, we are failing the very people who have never let us down,” McMahon said.

A key lawmaker on their side is Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, who said more must be done to treat mental health problems.

“Mandatory medical evaluations by competent medical personnel are vital to the health of our troops and veterans so they can access the appropriate support services,” Filner said.

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