Summary — H.R. 1969: No Wrong Door for Veterans Act

Status and procedural history
- Introduced: March 10, 2025 (Rep. Mariannette Miller‑Meeks).
- House: Reported (H. Rept. 119‑103) May 19, 2025; considered under suspension of the rules and passed by voice vote May 22, 2025. Motion to reconsider laid on the table, agreed without objection. Received in the Senate May 22, 2025 and referred to the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.
- Report includes minority views and a Congressional Budget Office cost estimate (not reproduced here).

Purpose and intent
- Reauthorize and strengthen the VA’s Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program to improve community‑based suicide prevention for veterans, standardize screening, expand eligible grantees, and clarify coordination between community providers and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The bill also makes targeted changes to veterans’ medical services and pension statutory provisions.

Key provisions (by topic and section)
1. Reauthorization and funding (Sec. 2(c))
- Extends the grant program through September 30, 2026 (amends prior “three years after first grant” language).
- Funding: preserves previously authorized $174,000,000 for FY2021–FY2025 and authorizes $52,500,000 for FY2026.

1. Emergent suicide care coordination (Sec. 2(b))

   • Requires community grantees to notify eligible individuals that they may be eligible for emergent suicide care under 38 U.S.C. §1720J and to notify the VA if the individual elects such care.
   • Adds a 72‑hour coordination timeframe: if the VA does not provide services within 72 hours of a referral, the individual is treated as eligible for emergent suicide care under §1720J.

2. Screening protocol requirement (Sec. 2(f))

   • Grants made on or after enactment must use the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C‑SSRS) as the required screening protocol.

3. Eligible entities — definition and expansion (Sec. 2(d))

   • Clarifies that eligible entities must have continuously provided mental health care or support services in the United States for the two years before applying.
   • Broadens examples to explicitly include foundations and health care providers.

4. Technical edits (Sec. 2(e))

   • Clarifies the definition of “emergency treatment” in the grant statute.

5. Prostheses for recreation (Sec. 3)

   • Amends 38 U.S.C. §1701(6)(F)(i) to expressly include adaptive prostheses and terminal devices for sports and other recreational activities within “artificial limbs” furnished as medical services.

6. Pension payment limits extension (Sec. 4)

   • Changes the expiration date in 38 U.S.C. §5503(d)(7) from November 30, 2031 to January 30, 2033.

Who is affected
- Veterans in crisis: increased and clarified pathways to emergent community mental health care and standardized suicide risk screening.
- Community mental health organizations, foundations, and health care providers seeking grant funding (subject to the two‑year continuous service requirement).
- VA Medical Centers and VA administrators: additional coordination obligations and required response timelines for referrals.
- Veterans who use prosthetic devices: explicit coverage authorization for adaptive prostheses and recreational terminal devices.
- Pension administration functions: affected by the temporary extension of specified payment limits.

Potential impact and implementation notes
- Standardizing use of the C‑SSRS and requiring notification/referral protocols aim to improve identification of at‑risk veterans and speed access to emergency care.
- The 72‑hour coordination requirement creates a statutory trigger for emergent VA care if local VA response is delayed.
- Authorization of $52.5 million for FY2026 supports continuation/expansion of community suicide prevention grants; actual program growth depends on appropriations and VA implementation.
- The prosthetics clarification may broaden covered items and support veteran participation in recreational and adaptive sports.

For more detail, see H. Rept. 119‑103 and the text of H.R. 1969 (as reported), which includes the amended statutory language (noted above by 38 U.S.C. citations).