YourVoice.Now Summary
Your MoneyTransparency & AccountabilityVeterans on mental health disability pay would get a yearly VA check-in — plus a home loan fee change.
Your Money
Once a year, the VA would have to offer a check-in to each veteran who gets disability pay for a mental health condition. It would look at your needs and go over other care you could get.
To reach you, the VA would try a call or text first, then a second try, then email, then a letter. It has to tell you what mental health care it offers, unless you ask it to stop.
The bill adds a line saying nothing in this part requires the VA to take a second look at what a veteran is paid. So a check-in does not, by itself, put your rating up for review.
Federal law sets VA home loan fees, and those fees are due to drop for loans closed on or after June 9, 2034. The bill moves that date to May 12, 2035, so buyers who close in between keep paying today's higher rate.
Transparency & Accountability
The VA would tell Congress how well each contact method worked, how many veterans then got care, and how many opted out. The reports run four years, then stop.
The GAO is the watchdog that audits federal programs for Congress. Within two years it would report how many veterans got check-ins, which method worked best, and what got in their way.
More about this bill
If you get VA disability pay for a mental health condition, expect a yearly check-in. The VA would have to offer you a mental health consultation to go over your needs and care options. Outreach starts with a phone call or text. If two tries fail, the VA sends an email, then a letter. You can tell the VA to skip the outreach. The bill also says a check-in does not require the VA to review your disability pay. The VA would report to Congress each year for four years on which contact methods work. The GAO, a government watchdog, would review the results within two years. A separate section has nothing to do with mental health. VA home loan fees are set to drop on June 9, 2034. The bill pushes that date to May 12, 2035. Buyers who close in those months would pay the higher fee. Today that fee is 2.15 percent for a first VA loan with no money down. Veterans who get VA disability pay do not pay this fee at all.
Congressional Summary
VA Mental Health Outreach and Engagement Act This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to offer an annual mental health consultation to veterans who are receiving compensation for a service-connected disability relating to a mental health diagnosis. Additionally, the VA must conduct outreach regarding the availability of such consultations and other mental health services unless a veteran opts out of outreach. The bill requires the VA to utilize specified methods in its outreach efforts and to provide annual reports for the four years following the enactment of the bill regarding the outreach methods used to inform veterans about mental health consultations and services. The Government Accountability Office must report on the effect of this bill, including by reporting on the number of veterans who received mental health consultations and which outreach methods were most successful in reaching such veterans. The bill also extends certain higher loan fee rates through May 12, 2035, under the VA's home loan program. Such rates currently last through June 9, 2034.
Legislative Subjects
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- House
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Reported to House
- Action Date
- 2026-05-04
- Date Added
- 2026-07-28
- Source
- Congress.gov →
Like reading a bill in plain English?
We're building an app that does this for every bill in Congress and lets you tell your reps how you want them to vote. We're a small team getting ready to launch, and we're trying to show investors that real people want this. Be one of them. Help us get it built. Leave your email and we'll tell you the moment the app is ready.