To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a list of covered providers that complete annual training on the prevention of suicide among veterans and to make such list available to veterans.

Summary of HR 8793 (119th Congress)

Purpose and intent

HR 8793 would direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to establish a publicly accessible list of health care providers who complete annual training on the prevention of suicide among veterans. The intent is to promote safer, more suicide-aware care for veterans by highlighting providers who have completed standardized, ongoing training in veteran suicide prevention.

Key provisions and changes

• Annual training requirement for providers: The bill requires that covered providers complete annual training focused on preventing veteran suicide. While the text provided does not specify the training provider, format, or content standards, the core obligation is for annual completion of suicide-prevention training.
• Creation of a covered providers list: The VA would compile and maintain a list of providers who satisfy the annual training requirement. This list would be made available to veterans seeking care, enabling them to identify providers with demonstrated training in veteran suicide prevention.
• Public accessibility: The list would be accessible to veterans, presumably to inform their choice of provider and encourage utilization of trained clinicians.
• Administration by VA: The Department of Veterans Affairs would administer the program, including tracking training completions and publishing the list.

Who would be affected

• VA healthcare providers: Those who deliver care within VA facilities or VA-funded programs would need to complete the annual training to be listed.
• Veterans seeking care: Veterans would gain access to a resource identifying providers with current suicide-prevention training, potentially influencing provider selection.
• VA system operations: The VA would incur administrative responsibilities to verify training and publish the list, including data management and outreach.

Procedural and timeline aspects

• Status: Referred to the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs on May 13, 2026; introduced the same day. As of the latest action history, the bill has not yet moved to further floor consideration or passage.
• Next steps: If advanced, the committee would likely consider provisions, determine training standards, define “covered providers,” specify eligible training programs, and establish timelines for implementation and public release of the list.

Potential impact and considerations

• Policy impact: Creates a formal mechanism to incentivize and recognize provider training in suicide prevention for veterans, potentially improving the quality of veteran mental health care and access to trained clinicians.
• Transparency and choice: Provides veterans with information that could influence care decisions and incentivize providers to maintain up-to-date suicide-prevention training.
• Implementation questions: Key details not specified in the summary (and typically included in the bill text) include the exact training curriculum, who qualifies as a “covered provider,” frequency and method of list updates, privacy and accuracy safeguards, and whether the list includes credentialed non-VA providers who treat veterans.

Note: This summary reflects the information available in the bill overview and action history. For full details, the text of the bill as reported by the committee would provide precise definitions, standards, and timelines.