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H.R. 4977 · 113th Congress

COVER Act

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IntroducedPassed one chamberPassed both chambersBecame law (gold)Resolution agreed to (full, dark)Failed or vetoed (gray)

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Never voted on. It didn't reach a floor vote before the 113th Congress ended, so it expired. A bill has to be introduced again to be considered in a new Congress.

GBR BilirakisSponsor
9 cosponsors · 7 D, 2 R
RRD Ruiz DJR Jolly AKD Kirkpatrick TWD Walz JBD Brownley LFD Frankel DLR Lamborn TRD Ryan AKD Kuster

1 signed on when it was introduced; the rest joined later. Cosponsors who withdrew aren't shown.

Creating Options for Veterans Expedited Recovery Act or the COVER Act - Establishes the Veterans Expedited Recovery Commission to:

What it does: CRS summary · Introduced in House · Jun 26, 2014

Creating Options for Veterans Expedited Recovery Act or the COVER Act - Establishes the Veterans Expedited Recovery Commission to:

  • examine the efficacy of the evidence-based therapy model used by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for treating mental health illnesses of veterans and identify areas to improve wellness-based outcomes;
  • conduct a patient-centered survey within each of the Veterans Integrated Service Networks to examine the experience of veterans with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) when seeking medical assistance for mental health issues through the VA health care system, their experience with non-VA facilities and health professionals for such issues, their preferences regarding available treatments for such issues and which methods they believe to be most effective, their experience with complementary alternative treatment therapies, the prevalence of prescribing prescription medication among veterans seeking treatment through the VA health care system to address mental health issues, and the Secretary's outreach efforts regarding the availability of benefits and treatments for such issues;
  • examine available research on complementary alternative treatment therapies for mental health issues (including music, yoga, and meditation therapy) and identify what benefits could be made with the inclusion of such treatments for veterans; and
  • study the potential increase in the approval by the Secretary of claims for compensation relating to mental health issues for veterans who served in Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Operation New Dawn.

Directs the Secretary, upon a report by the Commission, to submit: (1) an action plan for implementing recommendations and a time frame for implementing complementary alternative treatments, or (2) a justification for not doing so and an alternative solution to improve the efficacy of the therapy model.

Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov

About this bill and sources

Official title: COVER Act

Also known as: Creating Options for Veterans Expedited Recovery Act

Latest action (Jul 7, 2014): Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.

Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security · Origin: House · Introduced: Jun 26, 2014

Official page on Congress.gov · Bill text (GovInfo) · Status record (XML)

No recorded floor vote found.