Nov 11, 2025
By Christen Smith The Center Square
Veterans diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries from repeated explosions complete suicide at more than twice the rate of civilians, suggesting a gap in treatment that congressional lawmakers want to fill.
U.S. Sens. Dave McCormick, R-Pa., and Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., introduced legislation Monday called the Veterans Traumatic Brain Injury Adaptive Care Opportunities Nationwide Act. It would fund studies that explore new treatments focused on neurorehabilitation, mental health outcomes and suicide prevention.
McCormick, a West Point graduate and decorated Army veteran, has centered his freshman congressional term around support for servicemembers and their families, including bills that would preserve military pay during government shutdowns and exclude disability income for homeless veterans applying for aid.
“Members of our nation’s military put their lives on the line in defense of our freedom and far too often are plagued by the physical and mental wounds of war when they return home,” said McCormick. “As I think about the soldiers I served alongside, I feel this issue deeply. Our veterans deserve access to innovative and groundbreaking TBI treatments that will enhance their quality of life and finally address the suicide epidemic among servicemembers.” Rosen, daughter of a World War II veteran who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, has partnered with McCormick before, including on the VA Zero Suicide Demonstration Project Act of 2025, which she introduced Nov. 6. The bill creates a pilot program for five VA health clinics to cover mental health services for veterans living in rural communities.
“Our veterans put their lives on the line to defend our freedoms, and they deserve every resource available to heal from the invisible wounds of service,” she said Monday. “I’m proud to introduce this bipartisan bill to expand access to innovative treatments to improve long-term recovery and enhance the quality of life for veterans living with Traumatic Brain Injuries. As long as I’m in the Senate, I’ll always work across party lines to provide the men and women who serve our nation with the support and resources they deserve.” In October, McCormick visited Aurelius Brain Health and Human Performance at Harrisburg University –a first program of its kind within the U.S. that offering a combination of exercise, hyperbaric oxygen therapy and transcranial magnetic stimulation to create dramatic improvements in cognitive performance and mental health.
Director Anson Flake says the multipronged approach promotes lasting healing to the brain’s physical structure.
The treatment program was developed by an interdisciplinary team of experts who knew that “if you move and if you provide oxygen to the brain and if you provide stimulation, TMS, that collectively, that synergistic, and it will rapidly heal the brain from injuries that usually are medicated,” Flake said.
He added that this holistic approach has fewer side effects than the medications that are often the first line of treatment for cognitive and psychiatric issues.
Text: S.3130 — 119th Congress (2025-2026). https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/3130/text?s=1&r=1&q=%7B%22search%22%3A%22Veterans+Traumatic+Brain+Injury+Adaptive+Care+Opportunities+Nationwide+Act%22%7DAll Information (Except Text)
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Introduced in Senate (11/06/2025)
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session |
To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a program to award grants to eligible entities to develop, implement, and evaluate approaches and methodologies for prospective randomized control trials for neurorehabilitation treatments for the treatment of chronic mild traumatic brain injury in veterans, and for other purposes.
Mr. McCormick (for himself and Ms. Rosen) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs
To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a program to award grants to eligible entities to develop, implement, and evaluate approaches and methodologies for prospective randomized control trials for neurorehabilitation treatments for the treatment of chronic mild traumatic brain injury in veterans, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. Short title.
This Act may be cited as the “Veterans TBI Adaptive Care Opportunities Nationwide Act of 2025”.
SEC. 2. Department of Veterans Affairs grant program for supplemental neurorehabilitation approaches to chronic mild TBI treatment.
(a) In general.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall establish a grant program (to be known as the “TBI Innovation Grant Program”) to award grants to eligible entities for the development, implementation, and evaluation of approaches and methodologies for prospective randomized control trials for neurorehabilitation treatments for the treatment of chronic mild TBI (in this section referred to “mTBI”) in veterans.
(b) Duration.—The authority of the Secretary to carry out the grant program under this section shall terminate at the end of the three-year period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act.
(c) Use of funds.—An eligible entity in receipt of a grant under this section shall use amounts awarded under such grant to support activities that include—
(1) designing and testing novel or integrative treatments for mTBI that prioritize patient-centered care, including non-pharmacological therapies;
(2) conducting clinical studies and assessments to measure the effectiveness of funded approaches—
(A) to improve mental health outcomes among veterans;
(B) to reduce suicidality and common risk factors for completing suicide, including depression and substance use disorders among veterans; and
(C) to mitigate long-term effects of mTBI;
(3) providing training for clinicians and outreach to veterans and their families to improve awareness and accessibility of innovative mTBI treatments; and
(4) establishing partnerships with community organizations, academic institutions, and health care facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs to implement and evaluate best practices.
(d) Limitation on grant amount.—The Secretary may not award an eligible entity a grant under this section in an amount that exceeds $5,000,000 per fiscal year.
(e) Priority.—In awarding grants under this section, the Secretary shall give priority to eligible entities that the Secretary determines have demonstrated experience in delivering or researching effective treatments for mTBI.
(f) Program administration.—
(1) APPLICATIONS.—An eligible entity desiring a grant under this section shall submit to the Secretary an application in such form, at such time, and containing such information and assurances as the Secretary determines appropriate, including a detailed description of—
(A) proposed activities;
(B) expected outcomes; and
(C) plans for evaluating effectiveness.
(2) PERIODIC REPORTS.—An eligible entity in receipt of a grant under this section shall, not less frequently than annually, submit to the Secretary a report that includes, with respect to the period covered by the report—
(A) a description of how the eligible entity used such grant;
(B) a summary of the progress of activities funded with amounts from such grant; and
(C) measured outcomes relating to such activities.
(3) OVERSIGHT; ANNUAL EVALUATIONS.—The Secretary shall—
(A) ensure rigorous oversight with respect to the grant program under this section; and
(B) on an annual basis during the period in which the authority to carry out the grant program is effective, evaluate the efficacy of activities funded with a grant awarded under such program.
(g) Coordination with mental health services of Department of Veterans Affairs.—The Secretary shall ensure that the grant program under this section aligns with the Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program of the Department under section 201 of the Commander John Scott Hannon Veterans Mental Health Care Improvement Act of 2019 (Public Law 116–171; 38 U.S.C. 1720F note)—
(1) to provide for cohesive and comprehensive support for veterans with mTBI and associated mental health conditions; and
(2) to increase research and development on integrated mTBI and mental health interventions outside of the scope of traditional pathways, interventions, programs, procedures, and pharmaceuticals of the Department.
(h) Annual review.—Not less frequently than annually during the duration of the grant program under this section, the Secretary shall review the effectiveness of such program to determine the potential of such program for continuation or expansion.
(i) Reports to Congress.—Not later than two years after the date of the enactment of this Act, and not less frequently than annually thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report that includes—
(1) the findings of the activities reported under subsection (f)(2); and
(2) the recommendations of the Secretary with respect to policy and programmatic improvements to services of the Department of Veterans Affairs to treat TBI among veterans.
(j) Regulations.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall prescribe regulations to carry out this section.
(k) Funding.—
(1) AVAILABLE AMOUNTS.—The Secretary may carry out the grant program under this section using amounts available to the Secretary for general mental health care programs.
(2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary $30,000,000 for fiscal years 2026 through 2028 to carry out the grant program under this section, which shall remain available until expended.
(l) Definitions.—In this section:
(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term “eligible entity” means any of the following:
(A) A nonprofit organization.
(B) An academic institution engaged in research with respect to TBI.
(C) A non-Department of Veterans Affairs health care provider with expertise in neurorehabilitative therapies.
(D) An entity the Secretary determines appropriate for an award of a grant under this section.
(2) TBI.—The term “TBI” means traumatic brain injury.
(3) TREATMENT.—The term “treatment”, with respect to TBI, means clinical interventions, therapeutic devices, or rehabilitation care provided directly to a veteran with TBI.
(4) VETERAN.—The term “veteran” has the meaning given that term in section 101 of title 38, United States Code.