Empower CEO Meets With Speaker Mike Johnson on Strengthening Behavioral Health Care for America’s Veterans

Founder and CEO Yisroel Loeb, PhD, urged the Speaker's office to ensure veterans with complex conditions get specialists, capacity, and accountability.

PHOENIX, AZ, UNITED STATES, September 18, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Yisroel Loeb, PhD, founder and chief executive officer of Empower, met on Capitol Hill with Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.), Rep. Abe Hamadeh of Arizona's 8th Congressional District, and other national leaders focused on veterans' health to discuss opportunities for Congress and clinician-led organizations to work together to strengthen behavioral health care and disability evaluation services for the nation's veterans.

Roughly nine in ten of the examinations that determine a veteran's disability rating are now performed by contracted examiners rather than by the Department of Veterans Affairs itself, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office. The hardest of them, including examinations for post-traumatic stress disorder, military sexual trauma, traumatic brain injury, and Gulf War Illness, are where federal oversight has documented the deepest gaps in quality.

“A veteran's disability examination is often the single most consequential clinical encounter of their life, and the most complex cases are the ones where quality matters most," Dr. Loeb said. “This is not a volume problem. This is a clinical depth problem. Depth is built, not bought. It comes from clinicians who specialize in these conditions, who are supported by named clinical leadership, and who can reach the person accountable for the report when something is unclear. I came to Washington to make the case that the program should expect that from everyone who serves veterans, including Empower."

Dr. Loeb outlined three principles he believes should guide how Congress and clinician-led organizations work together on behavioral health for veterans:

Depth where it is hardest. Complex behavioral health evaluation and treatment should be delivered by clinicians who specialize in those conditions and are supported by named clinical leadership, not treated as an adjacent task for generalist capacity.

Capacity that moves. Veterans in rural and underserved communities should not wait longer than veterans in major metropolitan areas. Organizations that recruit, credential, and clinically support their own providers can shift coverage by state, by specialty, and by examination type as need changes.

An accountability loop that reaches the clinician. Examiners and treating providers should be able to raise concerns directly with the people responsible for quality, and the Department of Veterans Affairs should be able to reach the clinical leader accountable for any report. The U.S. Government Accountability Office has recommended a direct examiner feedback channel; Empower supports that recommendation.

“Empower supports evaluations for more than 4,000 veterans a month in all 50 states, and I've personally worked with more than 6,000 veterans myself over the course of my career," Dr. Loeb said. “That gives me a very practical view of what works. I'm grateful to Speaker Johnson and his staff for the time and the attention, and we intend to keep showing up and making the case for the veterans who need the most complex care."

Dr. Loeb founded Empower after seeing capable clinicians asked to carry complex, high-stakes caseloads without the supervision, structure, and support that make that work sustainable. The company's model treats clinician development as its operating system rather than a benefit line item.

Empower supports disability evaluations for more than 4,000 veterans each month through a national network of licensed psychologists and medical providers in all 50 states. Because the company recruits, credentials, and clinically supports its own clinicians, it can expand capacity by state, by specialty, and by examination type as the need for complex evaluations moves. Every Empower examiner works under named clinical leadership and can reach the clinician accountable for the report.

About Empower
Empower is a clinician-led behavioral health company headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. Founded by licensed psychologist Yisroel Loeb, PhD, Empower supports disability evaluations for more than 4,000 veterans each month through a national network of licensed psychologists and medical providers operating under named clinical leadership, with coverage across all 50 states. Empower also provides psychological evaluation, trauma-informed treatment, and care coordination for individuals recovering from injury, and behavioral health services that help injured workers return to function. Empower is built on one belief: better support for the people who provide care produces better care. Learn more at empowermh.co.

Krista Tillman
Empower
+1 480-274-3486
krista@evolveprandmarketing.com
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