Democrats Working to Protect our Veterans
DEMOCRATS WORKING TO PROTECT OUR VETERANS
Senate Democrats Make Mental Health Care a Priority
Today, Senate Democrats joined together to rally behind important legislation to protect our veterans. Democrats are determined to focus on the issues that are crucial to the American people and to put partisan politics aside. Instead of making an abuse of power their only goal as the Republican majority has, Democrats are putting the priorities of the American people and our veterans back on the Congress' agenda. Veterans Affairs Committee Ranking Member Daniel Akaka (D-HI) was joined in support of his legislation, the Veterans Mental Health Care Capacity Enhancement Act of 2005, by Assistant Democratic Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL), Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), and Senator Ken Salazar (D-CO). The senators were also joined by Joe Violante, Legislative Director of the Disabled American Veterans and a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, Donald Mooney, Assistant Director for Resource Development for the American Legion, and two veterans of the Iraq War, David Chasteen and Abbie Pickett.
Senate Democrats were joined by veterans and advocates of disabled veterans to support this key piece of legislation to provide mental health care services to our veterans. It has recently been reported that 20-30 percent of returning servicemembers returning from Iraq will require mental health services - and that is in addition to the already existing veteran population that depends on VA's expertise in treating mental illness today. Sadly, there are stigmas associated with those who seek help or report either of these issues, and the Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense have yet to come to the table together to work on ways to combat these problems. This legislation, which establishes key requirements for the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense, is designed to address these concerns and to ensure that when our soldiers return home from the war zone services are available to ease their transition back into society.
Senator Durbin said, "The war in Iraq is producing a new generation of American veterans whose wounds are invisible, but their pain is real. Veterans are suffering from depression, anxiety, and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Democrats are ready to give our veterans the help they need and deserve. Republicans should join us in this fight without any more delays."
"Our focus is simple - to make sure that VA is doing everything possible to guarantee that each and every veteran who needs mental health care - whether in West Virginia or Hawaii - is receiving that care. Instead of saying that the fiscal situation is bleak, we should be re-examining our priorities to ensure that our veterans get the care that they deserve and have earned," Senator Akaka said.
"For weeks now, Republicans have demanded that we spend all of the Senate's time debating a few radical judicial nominees. Rather than spending time supporting our troops and helping our veterans and their families, Republicans spend hour after hour, day after day, week after week, pursuing their judicial nomination escapade. Strengthening our national defense and supporting our troops is more important than pursuing a partisan agenda," Senator Murray said.
"Thousands of veterans in Colorado suffer in silence from service-connected mental health disorders, and more than 480,000 veterans have a service-connected mental health disorder nationwide. This bill will help dramatically improve mental health care across the spectrum of VA clinics and medical centers. I am proud to be a cosponsor of Sen. Akaka's bill and look forward to working hard with my colleagues in the Senate to make it law," Senator Salazar said.
THE "VETERANS MENTAL HEALTH CARE CAPACITY ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 2005"
Strengthen Mental Health Care. Strengthen performance measures for VA mental health programs to include establishing staff-patient ratios, foster more collaborative environments for primary and mental health care providers, and encourage primary care consultations for mental health.
Increase Funding for Specialized Care. Amend existing specialized services capacity law to index funding requirements to inflation, for the purposes of meeting the requirements and reporting on them.
Ensure Availability of Mental Health Care. Require that not less than 90 percent of Community-Based Outpatient Clinics have the capacity to provide onsite, contract, or tele-mental health services to a certain percentage of their patient populations.
Provide Inpatient Care. Require that each VA primary health care facility have the capacity to provide at least five days of inpatient detoxification services either onsite or at a nearby contracted facility and that a case manager can be assigned to coordinate follow-up services.
Expand Mental Health Care Services at Separation from Service. Direct VA and the Department of Defense (DoD) to enter into an agreement to ensure that separating servicemembers receive standardized screenings for sexual trauma and mental health disorders as part of their separation exams.
Better Coordination Between Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense. Establish a joint VA-DoD Workgroup on mental health, tasked with examining how to combat stigmas associated with mental health disorders, ways in which VA can make their expertise in the field more readily available to DoD providers, developing education initiatives to assist families of servicemembers on how to recognize signs of and deal with mental health disorders, and provide for a seamless transition of servicemembers who have already been diagnosed with mental health disorders while on active duty.
Establish Guidelines for Mental Health Care Screening. Direct the Under Secretary for Health to establish guidelines for screening primary care patients for mental health disorders and illnesses, and conduct training of primary care physicians accordingly.
http://durbin.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=238749&&