Representative Mike Coffman
US House of Representatives
U.S. Representative Mike Coffman, a Marine Corps combat Veteran and a member of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, applauded the unanimous passage of his bill: H.R. 918, the ‘Veteran Urgent Access to Mental HealthCare Act’. Coffman is the sponsor of HR 918 and wrote his bill to require the Veterans’ Affairs Secretary to provide initial mental health assessments and mental healthcare to Veterans with an “other than honorable” discharge who have deployed and served in combat zones. Generally, individuals who have such discharges are not eligible for any Veteran benefits. “Today, this House sent a critical message to our men and women in uniform. That message is that you are not alone. We are here to help those suffering from the ‘invisible’ wounds of war. The passage of H.R. 918 is an important bipartisan effort to ensure that our combat Veterans receive the mental healthcare services they need. I look forward to working with my colleagues in the Senate to get this bill across the finish line.”