# 119-hr-8737: Never Fight Alone Act

119-hr-8737, Never Fight Alone Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Patronis, Jimmy [R-FL-1] (R-FL); status in_committee; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-09-26).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-8737
- As of: 2026-09-26
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-8737
- Congress: 119
- Title: Never Fight Alone Act
- Status: in_committee
- Introduced: 2026-05-12
- Sponsor: Rep. Patronis, Jimmy [R-FL-1] (R-FL)
- Cosponsors: 15
- Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-09-26

## Summary

**Expands access to residential mental health and substance‑use care for veterans through the Veterans Community Care Program (VCCP).** It would add a new priority admission pathway when VA cannot provide timely residential care, set minimum licensing and accreditation standards for residential programs, strengthen veteran choice, add detailed reporting, and require Congressional approval for major future changes. - Veterans: Would let veterans qualify for priority admission to VA residential mental health or substance‑use programs and get community care if the VA cannot meet access standards in a timely way. Referrals to another VA program would not delay community care unless the veteran requests that referral. - Families and caregivers: Would preserve veteran choice among available care options and require VA reporting on emergency care data, including whether transportation or hospitalization was needed, so families can see how care was used. - VA operations and providers: Would require community residential programs to be state licensed and accredited by the Joint Commission or by CARF, allow case‑by‑case waivers if needed, force VA to update access standards within 90 days, and add annual metrics like numbers of requests, approvals, denials, and appeals. Changes to who must receive care would need a joint resolution of Congress.

## Cosponsors (15)

- Rep. Donalds, Byron [R-FL-19] (R-FL), 2026-09-24T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Luna, Anna Paulina [R-FL-13] (R-FL), 2026-05-12T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Webster, Daniel [R-FL-11] (R-FL), 2026-05-12T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Davis, Donald G. [D-NC-1] (D-NC), 2026-05-12T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Ciscomani, Juan [R-AZ-6] (R-AZ), 2026-05-12T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Bilirakis, Gus M. [R-FL-12] (R-FL), 2026-05-12T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Lawler, Michael [R-NY-17] (R-NY), 2026-05-12T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Grothman, Glenn [R-WI-6] (R-WI), 2026-05-12T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Mann, Tracey [R-KS-1] (R-KS), 2026-05-13T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Baird, James R. [R-IN-4] (R-IN), 2026-05-13T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Mills, Cory [R-FL-7] (R-FL), 2026-05-14T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Fuller, Clay [R-GA-14] (R-GA), 2026-05-26T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Guest, Michael [R-MS-3] (R-MS), 2026-05-29T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. James, John [R-MI-10] (R-MI), 2026-07-20T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Schmidt, Derek [R-KS-2] (R-KS), 2026-08-31T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- More timely mental health care for veterans: benefit, medium. If enacted, the bill would let you get community residential mental health or substance-use care when VA cannot provide timely VA residential care. You would qualify if you meet VA priority-admission rules and VA cannot accommodate you, or if you asked for a VA residential program and VA cannot pro…
- New VA access rules and oversight: mixed, medium. If enacted, the bill would require the VA Secretary to make mental health access rules no stricter than specialty care rules within 90 days of enactment. Most other changes to the conditions for providing community care made on or after enactment would not take effect until Congress approves them i…
- Stronger quality rules for residential care: mixed, medium. If enacted, the bill would require community residential programs used by VA to have state licensure and accreditation from the Joint Commission or CARF (or successor standards). If a referred program lacks these credentials, VA would have to try to find an alternate program. VA could waive the sta…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-1628: 761st Tank Battalion Congressional Gold Medal Act
- 119-hres-719: Honoring the life and legacy of Charles Charlie James Kirk.
- 119-hr-1502: North Platte Canteen Congressional Gold Medal Act
- 119-hr-2102: Major Richard Star Act
- 119-hr-425: Repealing Big Brother Overreach Act
- 119-hr-38: Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2025

## Sources
- [119-hr-8737 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/8737)

## Related
- [119-hr-1628: 761st Tank Battalion Congressional Gold Medal Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1628)
- [119-hres-719: Honoring the life and legacy of Charles Charlie James Kirk.](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hres-719)
- [119-hr-1502: North Platte Canteen Congressional Gold Medal Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1502)
- [119-hr-2102: Major Richard Star Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2102)
- [119-hr-425: Repealing Big Brother Overreach Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-425)
- [119-hr-38: Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-38)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-8737 (as of 2026-09-26).