{"id":16388,"date":"2022-12-22T16:32:24","date_gmt":"2022-12-22T21:32:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/?post_type=press-releases&#038;p=16388"},"modified":"2022-12-22T16:32:26","modified_gmt":"2022-12-22T21:32:26","slug":"news-sens-ossoffs-bipartisan-bill-to-help-veterans-afford-mental-health-care-treatment-passes-u-s-senate","status":"publish","type":"press-releases","link":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/press-releases\/news-sens-ossoffs-bipartisan-bill-to-help-veterans-afford-mental-health-care-treatment-passes-u-s-senate\/","title":{"rendered":"<strong>NEWS: Sens. Ossoff\u2019s Bipartisan Bill to Help Veterans Afford Mental Health Care Treatment Passes U.S. Senate<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><em>Bill will eliminate copays for veterans\u2019 first three mental health appointments per year<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Washington, D.C. \u2014<\/strong>&nbsp;U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff\u2019s bipartisan bill to help Georgia veterans afford mental health care treatment passed the U.S. Senate today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sen. Ossoff\u2019s&nbsp;<em>REMOVE Copays Act<\/em>&nbsp;will eliminate copays for veterans\u2019 first three outpatient mental health care visits each year, helping more veterans get the help they need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some veterans are currently required to pay out-of-pocket for outpatient mental health services when seeking treatment through the VA, an unnecessary obstacle for veterans seeking help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sen. Ossoff introduced the bipartisan bill earlier this year with Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND). Sen. John Thune (R-SD) co-sponsored the bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMy bipartisan bill will eliminate copays for three mental health appointments per year for&nbsp;veterans. I brought Republicans and Democrats together to get this done,\u201d&nbsp;<strong>Sen. Ossoff said.<\/strong>&nbsp;\u201cMy office is standing by to assist Georgia\u2019s veterans at&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/\">ossoff.senate.gov<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cEvery veteran was willing to pay the ultimate sacrifice for the freedoms we enjoy every day. We should ensure they have access to care they need. Removing copays for veterans for three mental health appointments annually prioritizes both their mental and physical health. It is a&nbsp;<a>key way<\/a>&nbsp;to support them as they adjust to civilian life,\u201d&nbsp;<strong>said Sen. Cramer.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA-41) introduced companion legislation in the U.S. House.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sen. Ossoff\u2019s bipartisan bill passed as part of this year\u2019s government funding bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Veterans in need can always seek assistance 24\/7 from the Veterans Crisis Line by dialing 988 and pressing \u201c1\u201d or by visiting\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.veteranscrisisline.net\/\">https:\/\/www.veteranscrisisline.net<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bill will eliminate copays for veterans\u2019 first three mental health appointments per year Washington, D.C. \u2014&nbsp;U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff\u2019s bipartisan bill to help Georgia veterans afford mental health care treatment passed the U.S. Senate today. Sen. Ossoff\u2019s&nbsp;REMOVE Copays Act&nbsp;will eliminate copays for veterans\u2019 first three outpatient mental health care visits each year, helping more veterans [&hellip;]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16388","press-releases","type-press-releases","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases\/16388","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/press-releases"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases\/16388\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16398,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases\/16388\/revisions\/16398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}