IVHSP Petitions VA to Close Cross-State Licensure Gap That Disrupts Mental Health Care for Mobile Veterans

A single regulatory provision blocks community-care therapists from following veterans across state lines . Congress has twice fixed the issue for other groups.

OCHLOCKNEE, GA, UNITED STATES, May 19, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The Institute for Veterans Health & Social Policy (IVHSP) today released a working paper and announced that, on May 13, 2026, it filed a Petition for Rulemaking with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and submitted parallel letters to the Senate and House Veterans' Affairs Committees. The package urges the Department and Congress to close a regulatory gap the Institute's research identifies as a structural cause of broken mental health care for mobile veterans — and recommends a technical amendment to the Veterans' ACCESS Act (S. 275 / H.R. 740), the community-care reform bills reported by their committees and awaiting floor action.

The petition asks the Secretary to amend 38 C.F.R. § 17.417 to extend the federal cross-state preemption already enjoyed by VA-employed clinicians to mental health professionals serving veterans through the Veterans Community Care Program (VCCP). Under the current rule, a VA-employed therapist can follow a veteran across a state line; a community-care therapist cannot.

"A national entitlement requires a national delivery system. Congress has already enacted this remedy twice for military families served through TRICARE. Veterans served through community care are the only military-connected population still excluded."

— Matthew A. Williams, MPA, Founder & CEO, IVHSP

THE PROBLEM: A TWO-TIERED SYSTEM BUILT ON STATE LINES

The IVHSP working paper, Crossing Lines: Jurisdictional Barriers, Therapeutic Disruption, and the Case for Federal Preemption in Veteran Mental Health Care, identifies a "dual-pathway failure loop" in which veterans seeking mental health care are bounced between VA direct care and community care without establishing sustained treatment. It isolates two failure modes: relocation failure, which severs an established therapeutic relationship the moment a veteran crosses a state line; and continuous mobility failure, in which the architecture cannot establish a legally viable provider relationship at all — affecting long-haul truckers, veterans experiencing homelessness, seasonal workers, full-time RV travelers, and dual-status National Guard members. VA itself operates 18 regional networks that span multiple states and routinely assigns specialty care across state lines, generating the very mobility the licensure framework cannot accommodate.

CONGRESS HAS ALREADY ENACTED THE REMEDY — TWICE

Section 581 of the FY2024 NDAA (P.L. 118-31) extended cross-state licensure flexibility to Department of Defense–contracted mental health counselors. Section 714 of the FY2025 NDAA (P.L. 118-159) extended the same portability to TRICARE network mental health providers. Both passed with overwhelming bipartisan support. A military retiree with concurrent VA and TRICARE for Life coverage can today receive cross-state tele-mental-health continuity from a TRICARE provider — but not from a VCCP provider. The federal government applies opposite preemption rules to the same person's mental health care depending on which federal program pays.

WHAT THE PETITION REQUESTS

The petition asks the Secretary to initiate notice-and-comment rulemaking within 180 days and includes proposed regulatory text modeled on the TRICARE framework. The framework conditions preemption on a valid state license, operation under a § 1703 or § 1703A contract, and federal safety and disciplinary protections. Interstate licensure compacts (PSYPACT, the Counseling Compact, the Social Work Licensure Compact) would continue to operate independently. The petition seeks no expanded reimbursement, new spending, or change to clinical standards — only the removal of one regulatory provision, 38 C.F.R. § 17.417(b)(2)(iii).

The companion letters ask Congress to consider including the corresponding statutory amendment in S. 275 / H.R. 740.

WHY IT MATTERS NOW

In 2023, 6,398 veterans died by suicide. The 2024 Point-in-Time count identified 32,882 veterans experiencing homelessness on a single night. Approximately 200,000 service members transition from active duty annually — entering the highest-risk period for suicide during the geographic transition the system cannot accommodate.

READ THE WORKING PAPER AND PETITION

Crossing Lines and the Petition for Rulemaking are at www.ivhsp.org and via SSRN at https://ssrn.com/abstract=6744578. Media inquiries to Matt Williams at research@ivhsp.org or +1 877 461 8880.

ABOUT IVHSP

The Institute for Veterans Health & Social Policy is an independent policy research organization in Ochlocknee, Georgia, dedicated to identifying structural barriers within federal systems that impede veterans' access to entitled health and social services. IVHSP received no external funding for this project.

Matthew Williams
Institute for Veterans Health & Social Policy
+1 877-461-8880
email us here
Visit us on social media:
LinkedIn
X
YouTube
Facebook

Legal Disclaimer:

EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.