Urge Congress to enact the Veterans' ACCESS Act

hcr42_00_IN

As Introduced

136th
General Assembly

Regular
Session
H. C. R. No. 42

2025-2026

Representatives
Demetriou, Willis

A
c o n c u r r e n t R E S O L U T I O N

To
urge Congress to honor the sacrifices of our nation's veterans by
supporting their access to quality and timely health care by passing
the Veterans' Assuring Critical Care Expansions to Support
Servicemembers (ACCESS) Act, referred to as the Veterans' ACCESS Act
of 2025 (S. 275, H.R. 740).

BE
IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF OHIO (THE
SENATE CONCURRING):

WHEREAS,
Ohio is home to over 700,000 veterans, giving it the sixth-largest
veteran population of any state; and

WHEREAS,
The United States' post-9/11 wars have carried a heavy price,
including an estimated 1.1 million veterans who have developed
service-connected disabilities, and over $6.4 trillion spent; and

WHEREAS,
In 2023, Ohio had the fifth-highest number of veteran suicides in the
nation with 254 lives lost and a suicide rate of 37.6 per 100,000
veterans, which was far above the national suicide rate of 14.2 per
100,000 people and Ohio's total suicide rate of 14.6 per 100,000
people; and

WHEREAS,
The VA MISSION Act of 2018 established the Veterans Community Care
Program to give veterans greater health care choice by revising
access standards and eligibility criteria for receiving community
care services; and

WHEREAS,
Forty percent of veterans' health care was received in community care
settings in Fiscal Year 2025, accounting for only twenty-six percent
of the Veterans Health Administration's budget, thereby saving the
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) money; and

WHEREAS,
The VA decommissioned its MISSION Act website in 2021 and its Office
of Community Care in 2022, thereby undermining the purpose of the VA
MISSION Act of 2018; and

WHEREAS,
Records obtained via Freedom of Information Act request show the VA
has manipulated wait times to deny eligible veterans access to
community care; and

WHEREAS,
The VA issued internal guidance directing schedulers to attempt to
persuade veterans not to use community care options; and

WHEREAS,
The Veterans' ACCESS Act of 2025 (S. 275, H.R. 740) codifies the
existing community care access standards that were enacted in 2019
through the VA MISSION Act of 2018, strengthens the Veterans
Community Care Program, provides veterans with greater certainty
about their health care options, expands mental health and substance
use treatment access, and overall helps veterans seek the care that
best meets their needs; now therefore be it

RESOLVED,
That we, the members of the 136th General Assembly of the State of
Ohio, urge Congress to pass the Veterans' ACCESS Act of 2025 (S. 275,
H.R. 740); and be it further

RESOLVED,
That we call upon the President and Congress to continue to follow
through on the progress made since the passage of the VA MISSION Act
of 2018, which enjoyed overwhelming bipartisan support and
established the VA's Veteran Community Care Program; and be it
further

RESOLVED,
That we call upon the Veterans Health Administration to reinstate the
Office of Community Care to once again have a dedicated office
overseeing the administration of community care services; and be it
further

RESOLVED,
That we reaffirm our support of our military forces who have sworn to
protect and defend our nation's freedom and prosperity; and be it
further

RESOLVED,
That the Clerk of the House of Representatives transmit duly
authenticated copies of this resolution to the President of the
United States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker
of the United States House of Representatives, each member of Ohio's
Congressional delegation, and to the news media of Ohio, with the
request that this resolution be officially entered into the
Congressional Record.