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House committee considers bill to reimburse hyperbaric oxygen therapy for veterans with PTSD and TBI
Summary
A bill establishing a fund to reimburse clinics that provide hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) for veterans diagnosed with post‑traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury drew personal testimony on veterans’ suicides and bipartisan floor support; sponsors added privacy protections for veterans’ data.
Representatives advanced discussion of House Bill 262, a proposal to create a Veterans Traumatic Brain Injury Treatment and Recovery Fund to reimburse facilities providing hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) to veterans diagnosed with PTSD or traumatic brain injury.
Sponsor Representative Clay described HBOT as a non‑narcotic therapy used for a range of conditions and said veterans who could not afford an abbreviated course of roughly 40 sessions – estimated by the sponsor at about $7,000 – might gain access through the reimbursement fund. “The beautiful thing about the oxygen therapy is it is non‑narcotic,” the sponsor told the chamber.
Members described testimony and site visits to HBOT clinics. Representative Clay and other supporters recounted individual cases they said showed cognitive improvement after HBOT and emphasized the bill had unanimous committee support. An amendment was adopted to make sharing veterans’ treatment data with the commission or third parties explicitly subject to the veteran’s approval; sponsors said a veteran who withheld data should not be disqualified from treatment.
Several members spoke in strongly personal terms about suicide among veterans and first responders and urged passage as a means to expand alternatives to drug‑based therapies.
Ending: Sponsors said the bill will be reported forward; they highlighted ongoing committee support and local site visits that informed the measure.
