S. 702 would require the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to enter into a contract with an independent organization to study differences between the quality of mental health care and addiction therapy provided directly by VA with the quality of such care that veterans receive from other health care providers. The bill also would require a final report on the study’s findings to be submitted to the Congress and made publicly available within 18 months of entering the contract.

Based on the costs of similar studies and reports, CBO estimates that fulfilling the bill’s reporting requirement would cost $1 million over the 2025-2030 period; such spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Noah Callahan. The estimate was reviewed by Christina Hawley Anthony, Deputy Director of Budget Analysis.