President Trump signed an executive order to improve mental health services for the nation’s veterans as they transition back to civilian life.
According to a White House statement, the secretaries of Defense, Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security must submit to the president within 60 days a joint action plan that describes steps to provide “seamless access” to mental health treatment and suicide prevention resources for uniformed service members in the year after their discharge, separation or retirement.
The executive order calls for expansion and modernization of care including:
- An expansion of the VA’s “Anywhere to Anywhere” healthcare, which allows VA providers to use telehealth technology to remotely treat veterans regardless of geographic location
- Expansion of VA Video Connect, an online application that connects veterans and healthcare providers from anywhere in the country
- A rollout of the new Online Scheduling Tool, which enables veterans to schedule appointments from their mobile devices or computers
- Launch of the VA’s “Access and Quality Tool,” which allows veterans to view online both wait times at VA locations and important quality-of-care data.
The announcement comes with the authorization of $2.1 billion in additional funds for the Veterans Choice Program and the adoption of the same electronic health record as the Department of Defense enabling the immediate availability of service members’ medical records and seamless care between the departments.
Additionally, Secretary David Shulkin has expanded access to urgent mental healthcare to former service members with other-than-honorable discharges. This comes at a time, when according to the announcement,
- Only 50 percent of returning service members who need mental health treatment seek it
- The suicide rate among veterans in the first year after their service is twice the average among veterans
- Veterans three to 12 months out of military service are three times more likely to commit suicide than their active duty compatriots, while those up to 3 months out of service were 2.5 times as likely
- Approximately 18.5 percent of veterans returning from Iraq or Afghanistan suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder or depression.
