Empower Chief Growth Officer Meets With Speaker Mike Johnson on Strengthening Behavioral Health Care for U.S. Veterans

Anthony Conti urged the Speaker's office to ensure veterans with complex conditions receive specialized care, adequate capacity and accountability

PHOENIX, AZ, UNITED STATES, September 9, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- In August, Anthony Conti, chief growth officer of Empower, met in Paradise Valley, Ariz., with Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.) to discuss how the federal government and clinician-led organizations can work together to deliver better behavioral health care and evaluation to the nation's veterans.

The conversation focused on the veterans whose needs are greatest to meet: those living with post-traumatic stress disorder, military sexual trauma, traumatic brain injury, and other complex conditions, for whom the quality of a clinical evaluation shapes access to benefits and care for years afterward.

“The Speaker's office gave us real time and real attention, and we used it to talk about what actually produces good behavioral health care for veterans,” Conti said. “It is not about bigger contracts or faster timelines. It is about ensuring veterans are evaluated by clinicians who specialize in their conditions, supported by accessible clinical leadership and resources wherever they live. Empower was built by a psychologist around those three things, and we believe the program should expect them from every organization that serves veterans.”

Conti outlined three principles that Empower believes should guide federal policy 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 our founder, a Clinical Psychologist, has personally worked with more than 6,000 veterans,” Conti said. “That gives us a very practical view of what works. We are grateful to Speaker Johnson and his staff for hearing it, and we look forward to continuing the conversation with members and committees on both sides of the aisle.”

Conti, a Scottsdale, Arizona resident, leads growth, partnerships, and government engagement for Empower. He brings more than 25 years of marketing and commercial leadership experience across healthcare, legal, and government platforms.

Empower is a clinician-led behavioral health company headquartered in Phoenix. Founded by licensed psychologist Yisroel Loeb, PhD, the company operates a national network of licensed psychologists and medical providers who deliver disability evaluations, trauma-informed treatment, and care coordination for veterans, injured individuals, and injured workers.

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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