Is Mental Health Part of Veterans’ Health Care benefits?

By Ginny Estupinian

On February 5th the San Francisco Chronicle reported on a lawsuit that is pending in federal court wherein an advocacy group is fighting to help get veterans mental health coverage. The Justice Department is defending the suit based on their position that “the federal law providing five years of care for veterans from the date of discharge establishes verterans’ eligibility for health care , but it does not create an entitlement to any particular medical service”.  One of the most startling comments was a statement made by the veterans group stating that there was a backlog of more than 600,000 disability claims and that 120 veterans a week commit suicide. The article alluded to the fact that a majority of these cases were due to the fact that mental health usually takes the backseat to general medical services. However, the article did state that the Veterans Administration had hired nearly 3800 mental health professional in the last two years and had placed at least one specialist in post traumatic stress disorder at each of its medical centers. It is true that when we see cutbacks in the health arena it is usually programs such as mental health that are cut first. One of the reasons is that generally, unlike physical injuries that are highly visible, mental damage is hidden and at times it takes a train specialist to understand the gravity of issues that surface. Often what appears as nothing to a layperson can be a sign of significant underlying problems to a trained mental health professional. The problem is not only being able to provide these services to veterans but also finding those that need help and educating them on what options they have to deal with their conditions.  It is reasonable to conclude that the Justice Department is fighting this case simply on the grounds of money. In the end it will cost more money to provide these services in the amount that is needed for these veterans. I feel that it is money well spent.