Veterans National Traumatic Brain Injury Treatment Act

The bill would require the VA Secretary to implement a three-year pilot program providing hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) to veterans diagnosed with traumatic brain injury (TBI) or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The program would operate in two Veterans Integrated Service Networks using community care providers authorized under title 38. Participating medical facilities would have to be accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospital Organizations, the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society, or a comparable body. A dedicated "VA HBOT Fund" would be established in the Treasury, but it could only receive donations — no federal appropriations would flow into it.

The bill would also direct the Comptroller General to submit an updated GAO report within one year of enactment assessing clinical trials on HBOT for TBI and PTSD conducted by the VA, Department of Defense, and private entities since a 2016 GAO report on the same topic. A separate provision would extend a statutory deadline governing certain limits on veterans pension payments from November 30, 2031 to October 30, 2034.

Veterans diagnosed with traumatic brain injury or post-traumatic stress disorder who would participate in the pilot program; the Department of Veterans Affairs, which would administer the program and the donation fund; accredited hyperbaric oxygen therapy providers in the two selected VA service networks; and veterans receiving pension payments subject to the limit extended by Section 4.

Because the pilot's funding comes exclusively from donations rather than appropriations, the program's scale and reach would depend entirely on private contributions. Veterans in only two of the VA's service networks would have access, limiting coverage nationally. The GAO report would inform Congress on whether the clinical evidence base has strengthened since 2016, potentially shaping future decisions about broader VA coverage of this therapy.

The VA Secretary would designate two Veterans Integrated Service Networks to operate the program and ensure that any facility providing HBOT holds recognized accreditation. Treatment would be delivered through existing community care providers under 38 U.S.C. § 1703(c)(5). The VA HBOT Fund, created in the general Treasury, would accept donations but receive no appropriated dollars; unused funds would be available without fiscal-year limitation until the program's three-year termination date. Separately, the Comptroller General would review recent clinical trial literature and report findings to both Veterans' Affairs committees within one year of enactment.