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.