Congresswoman Lauren Underwood Passes A Fourth Piece Of Legislation Into Law

Underwood’s Veterans’ Care Quality Transparency Act Passed the House and Senate with Unanimous Support

ST. CHARLES, IL — Legislation authored by Congresswoman Lauren Underwood to address the national veterans’ suicide crisis was signed into law by President Trump Tuesday. The Veterans’ Care Quality Transparency Act (H.R. 2372) passed both houses of Congress with unanimous support. Underwood, a member of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, has focused on ensuring high-quality mental health and reproductive health care for veterans.

“We lose approximately twenty veterans to suicide every day in this country — that’s simply unacceptable,” Congresswoman Underwood said. “I believe we should honor our veterans by making certain they have the resources they need to live healthy, well lives when they return home. The Veterans’ Care Quality Transparency Act will ensure veterans receive high-quality mental health and suicide prevention services from both the VA and contracted health care providers.”

The legislation directs the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to assess the standards of mental health care and suicide prevention services from outside heath care providers that have entered into agreements with the VA. The legislation would ensure veterans receive high-quality mental health care services even when they go outside the VA for treatment.

Prior to the Veterans’ Care Quality Transparency Act, Underwood passed legislation into law to make lower cost generic insulin available sooner, to prevent children from dying in federal custody along the U.S. Mexico border, and to examine the United States’ reliance on a foreign-based medical supply chain.