White House Takes Steps On Veteran Mental Health, Surprise Bills, Infrastructure

WHO13.com: President Biden Signs Rural Mental Health Act Named For Iowa Veteran Into Law
On Wednesday, President Joe Biden signed a mental health bill into law named for Sgt. Brandon Ketchum – an Iowa veteran who took his own life after being denied mental health services in 2016. The ‘Sgt. Ketchum Rural Veterans’ Mental Health Act’ was penned by Iowa congresswoman Cindy Axne. The bill creates new programs within the VA that are specifically targeted at increasing mental healthcare access in rural areas. (Hendrickson, 6/30)

KWWL: Led By Iowa's U.S. House Delegation, Biden Signs Rural Mental Health Act Named For Iowa Veteran Into Law
The law requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to establish and maintain three new centers of the Rural Access Network for Growth Enhancement (RANGE) Program in areas with interest from personnel and a need for additional mental health care for rural veterans. The RANGE Program serves veterans in rural areas who are experiencing mental illness. It also requires the Government Accountability Office to conduct a study and report on whether the VA has sufficient resources to serve rural veterans who need mental health care that is more intensive than traditional outpatient therapy. (Oates, 6/30)

Des Moines Register: Biden Calls Iowan's Mom After Signing VA Mental Health Law Named For Son
Beverly Kittoe was working in her hair salon Wednesday when she received an unexpected call from Washington, D.C. She didn't recognize the number, but decided to answer. The caller was a White House staffer. The staffer asked if Kittoe could spare a few minutes to speak to President Joe Biden about her son, Iowa National Guard veteran Brandon Ketchum. Yes, Kittoe replied. Of course she could. The president had just signed a bill named for Ketchum, who died by suicide in 2016. The bill, co-sponsored by all four Iowa members of the U.S. House of Representatives, aims to improve access to VA mental health services for rural veterans. (Leys, 6/30)

In other news from the Biden administration —

The New York Times: For Surprise Medical Bills, It’s The Beginning Of The End
The Biden administration is expected to take its first steps Thursday toward finalizing the details of a ban on surprise medical bills that Congress passed and President Trump signed into law last winter. Some experts see the policy as the most important consumer protection in health care to come out of Washington in more than a decade. Surprise medical bills happen when a doctor or other provider who isn’t in a patient’s insurance network is unexpectedly involved in a patient’s care. Patients may go to a hospital that accepts their insurance, for example, but get treatment from emergency room physicians or anesthesiologists who don’t — and who then send patients big bills directly. (Kliff and Sanger-Katz, 7/1)

The Washington Post: Biden Names Veteran Of Last Cancer Moonshot To Help Direct New Initiative
President Biden is naming Danielle Carnival, a veteran of the cancer moonshot during the Obama administration, to help oversee a new version of the effort — a cause that has long been of intense personal and professional interest to the president, according to the White House. Carnival, a neuroscientist who is chief executive officer of an ALS nonprofit, will be a senior adviser to Eric Lander, the recently confirmed director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, according to a statement from the White House. (McGinley, 6/30)

Politico: FEMA Changes Rules For Covid-19 Funeral Aid Program After Outcry 
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has changed its pandemic funeral assistance policy to allow family members of those who died from Covid-19 to submit for reimbursement even if the death certificate does not identify the illness as the cause of death. FEMA said Tuesday that people whose family member died between Jan. 20 and May 16, 2020, can apply for aid if they submit a signed letter from a coroner, medical examiner or official who certified their relative’s death certificate that links the death to Covid-19. (Banco, 6/30)

Marketplace: Biden Considers Order To Use Government's Regulatory Power To Boost Competition
President Joe Biden is considering issuing an executive order that would direct the federal government to tighten the reins on industries dominated by a few large companies. The precise wording of the order is not yet known, but the gist of it is that instead of relying on antitrust enforcement, agencies should use regulation to promote competition in industries from agriculture to health care. (McCarty Carino, 6/30)

NPR: The U.S. Will Add A Third Gender Option On Passports
Starting immediately, an applicant for a U.S. passport can simply check "M" or "F" as their gender – without needing to provide medical certification if that gender doesn't match their other documents. And soon, applicants will have the option to select a gender option that isn't male or female, the State Department said Wednesday. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the changes as "further steps toward ensuring the fair treatment of LGBTQI+ U.S. citizens, regardless of their gender or sex." They will also fulfill a Biden campaign promise. It will take some time to create a third gender option on passports, the State Department warned. People can not yet apply for a passport with a nonbinary, intersex, or gender nonconforming gender marker. (Wamsley, 6/30)

In news about the infrastructure bill —

Axios: Hospitals Urge Congress Not To Pay For Infrastructure With Unspent COVID Relief 
The nation's largest hospital groups really don't want the Senate to pay for its infrastructure deal with funding that would otherwise go to them. The hospital industry has a lot of sway in Washington, and its opposition could further complicate the deal's narrow pathway to passage. (Owens, 6/30)

The New York Times: Air Pollution’s Invisible Toll On Your Health 
President Biden’s proposed infrastructure plan calling for huge investments in clean energy, public transportation and electric vehicles would do a lot more than slow the rate of devastating climate change. It would also protect the health of every American, especially young children and older adults, by reducing the harmful effects of the invisible air pollutants inhaled year after year. Toxic substances like fine particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide and ozone form primarily when fossil fuels are burned and enter the atmosphere in the exhaust from motor vehicles, heating units and smoke from wildfires. Inhaling such pollutants can cause bodily damage that lasts for years, if not for life, and may even lead to death. (Brody, 6/28)