Miramar Health Ends Lobbying Contract With Veterans Affairs Advocate Amanda Jolie Gort

The LDA Termination, by the Numbers

Miramar Health, a Southern California-based veteran addiction treatment provider, has ended its lobbying relationship with Amanda Jolie Gort, according to a lobbying disclosure termination filed in the fourth quarter of 2025. The LDA termination effectively ends an engagement that spanned portions of the 118th Congress and focused on veterans' access to substance use disorder treatment and mental health care.

The filing reports $0 in lobbying income — consistent with every quarterly disclosure Gort filed on behalf of Miramar Health throughout the relationship.

Miramar Health has not, based on available lobbying disclosures, hired another firm to continue this work. There is no lobbying activity on record for the company heading into 2026 under a new federal lobbying registration.

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Why It Matters

A $0 Engagement That Still Tells a Story

Every quarterly filing Amanda Jolie Gort submitted on behalf of Miramar Health — from the fourth quarter of 2024 through the first and second quarters of 2025 — reported $0 in income. That's unusual in the lobbying world, where even modest engagements typically show some disclosed compensation. The $0 figure across every filing raises questions about the nature of the arrangement — whether it was pro bono, never fully activated, or structured in a way that fell below reporting thresholds.

Gort's Client Portfolio

Amanda Jolie Gort appears to operate as a sole practitioner. Based on available disclosure data, Miramar Health was her client, and there is no indication of a broader roster of active lobbying clients generating disclosed revenue. The termination leaves Gort without a visible active engagement in the lobbying disclosure database heading into 2026.

No Replacement Firm on File

Miramar Health has not filed a new federal lobbying registration with another firm to continue advocacy on veterans' healthcare or substance use disorder policy. As of the most recent disclosures, the company has no active lobbying activity for 2026.

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Broader Context

The Bill That Passed the House — and Died in the Senate

The centerpiece of Gort's Miramar Health lobbying work was H.R. 8371, the Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act. The bill passed the House on November 18, 2024, but was never taken up by the Senate before the 118th Congress adjourned in January 2025. It expired.

Gort's filings show she advocated for specific provisions within that bill, including:

  • Adoption of American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) guidelines by the VA for patient placement, continued stay, transfer, and discharge decisions involving addiction and co-occurring conditions.
  • A requirement that veterans facing life-threatening substance use disorder be admitted within 48 hours of assessment at a VA facility.
  • A mandate to assess high suicide-risk veterans within 72 hours, followed by admission to appropriate care — either at a VA facility or a community care provider — within 48 hours.

None of these provisions became law. For them to advance, they would need to be reintroduced in the 119th Congress (2025–2026).

Gort also lobbied on H.R. 3520, the Veteran Care Improvement Act of 2023, and H.R. 542, the Elizabeth Dole Home Care Act of 2023, both of which addressed related veterans' healthcare issues during the 118th Congress.

The Political Landscape Has Shifted — But Not Entirely

The House Committee on Veterans' Affairs remains under the same leadership: Rep. Mike Bost (R-IL) as chairman and Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA) as ranking member. The original bill, H.R. 8371, was introduced by Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ) and passed with bipartisan support.

The Senate — which was the bottleneck that killed the bill — now has a Republican majority in the 119th Congress. The VA is under new leadership with Secretary Doug Collins. How the current administration approaches expanding VA care mandates and adopting external clinical guidelines like ASAM's remains an open question.

No Congressional Attention Directed at Miramar Health

A search of congressional hearings and member communications over the past year turned up no mentions of Miramar Health. There is no indication that congressional scrutiny or public attention contributed to the lobbying disclosure termination.

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What Miramar Health Does — and Why It Lobbied

Miramar Health is a privately held company headquartered in Laguna Hills, California, with treatment facilities in Laguna Beach and Newport Beach. It operates a 24/7 withdrawal management and residential treatment program for veterans dealing with military trauma, PTSD, substance use disorders, and co-occurring mental health conditions. The company reports estimated revenue of roughly $6.7 million.

Critically, Miramar Health is an authorized VA community care provider — veterans are referred to the company by VA case managers, and treatment is covered by the VA. This means federal policy on VA community care referrals, reimbursement rates, and behavioral health funding directly affects the company's patient flow and bottom line.

The policy goals Gort lobbied for — faster admission timelines, adoption of ASAM clinical standards, expanded access for veterans in crisis — would have directly benefited providers like Miramar Health that operate within the VA's community care network.

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The Amanda Jolie Gort Lobbyist Profile

Gort brought relevant Hill experience to the engagement. Before becoming a lobbyist, she served as:

  • Professional Staff Member on the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs (January 2021 – January 2023)
  • Legislative Assistant in the office of Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA) (January 2019 – December 2020) — Takano is the current ranking member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee
  • Legislative Correspondent in the office of Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) (June 2017 – December 2018)

Her background aligned well with the House-side advocacy that helped move H.R. 8371 through that chamber. The bill's failure in the Senate, however, points to a gap that a sole practitioner with primarily House and Democratic staff experience may have had difficulty bridging — particularly as the Senate shifted to Republican control.

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Bottom Line

Miramar Health's core policy objectives — faster VA admission timelines for veterans in crisis and adoption of addiction medicine standards — remain unresolved after H.R. 8371 died in the Senate. The company has not hired a replacement firm, and there is no active lobbying activity on file heading into 2026. The underlying policy issues are still live, the 119th Congress could take them up, and the veterans' behavioral health space continues to draw bipartisan interest on Capitol Hill. But for now, Miramar Health is off the lobbying field with no visible plan to get back on it.