Issue Position: Veterans Healthare

Issue Position

Around one in 10 Virginians is a veteran. Virginia ranks 7th among states in total population of veterans with over 837,000 veterans in 2012. Virginia will rank 4th in Veteran population by 2016.

The VA system that is supposed to provide our veterans with healthcare is not getting the job done adequately. Each year thousands of claims submitted to the VA go unanswered and thousands of veterans go without adequate mental and physical health care. This is completely unacceptable and As Governor I will work to push the federal government to meet its obligations to our veterans.

There is also a serious mental health crisis among our veterans. One in three U.S. service members returning from Iraq or Afghanistan experiences signs of combat stress, depression, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or a traumatic brain injury (TBI). Suicide has claimed the lives of more veterans than have been killed in action during our two wars in recent years. Only 53% of returning troops in the US who screened positive for PTSD or major depression sought help from a provider for these conditions in the preceding year. Of those who sought treatment only slightly over half received adequate treatment.

Virginia needs to do aggressive outreach to our veterans who might be struggling with mental illness. Many veterans do not seek services due to stigma or a perception that such services are not available. Only by working aggressively to promote these services to our veterans population will we reach a significantly larger portion of those who served America.

Virginia needs to provide access to transition services and supportive housing for veterans struggling with homelessness, substance abuse, or mental illness. As outlined above, these make clear economic sense.

Finally, Virginia needs to properly fund crisis intervention training, counseling, and facilities so that veterans and other Virginians in crisis can get the treatment they need.

Source