Fund the Veterans Health Administration
Recommendation
Congress should appropriate additional funding to the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) to increase the number of mental health and substance use disorder (MH/SUD) providers, decrease wait and travel times, and attract culturally competent providers that serve the unique needs of the nation’s Veterans.[1][2]
Background/summary
The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) effectively integrates mental health and substance use disorder (MH/SUD) and physical health care, has expertise in conditions that disproportionately affect our Veterans such as post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, and understands military culture. Accordingly, investing in the VHA is critical to serving Veterans’ unique needs. While the premise of the Veterans Choice Program, which allows Veterans to get mental health care from non-VA professionals, is commendable, only about 13 percent of private mental health providers are able to provide culturally competent and evidence-based care, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness.[3] Therefore, it is critical that Congress take steps to ensure that Veterans Choice Program-participating professionals demonstrate military cultural competency and increase rates to attract culturally competent providers.[3]
citations
1. The Kennedy Forum. Navigating The New Frontier of Mental Health and Addiction: A Guide for the 115th Congress. Last Updated 2017.
2. The Kennedy Forum. Recommendations of Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy to the President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis. Last Updated October 2017.
3. National Alliance on Mental Illness. Protecting Veterans’ Access to Mental Health Care. Last Accessed July 6, 2023.