Murphy Delivers for Connecticut: Providing Mental Health Care for Veterans

I can’t stand the idea of a veteran risking her or his life for this country, suffering the wounds of battle, and then being kicked to the curb as a result of those wounds. But that is exactly what happened to tens of thousands of men & women who have fought for our country.

Many of these veterans return home from combat with mental health and behavioral health issues like PTSD or traumatic brain injury. But instead of getting the treatment they need, they received other-than-honorable (OTH) discharges or so-called “bad paper discharges,” disqualifying them from VA care, especially the mental and behavioral health services many of them desperately need.

Investigations of the Department of Defense showed that tens of thousands of veterans with mental health and behavioral health diagnoses received an OTH discharge and were denied care. We turned our back on them.

This isn’t how we should be treating veterans who risked their lives for our country. That’s why I wrote and passed the Honor Our Commitment Act, a bill that was signed into law this past spring.

Honor Our Commitment requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide mental health and behavioral health services to diagnosed former combat veterans who have been other-than-honorably discharged. The bill also ensures that veterans receive a decision in a timely manner and requires the VA to justify to Congress any denial of benefits that they issue to a veteran.

Our veterans made a commitment to our country when they signed up to serve. I worked hard to get this legislation passed so we can make sure the VA keeps its promise to help veterans with mental and behavioral health issues. I won’t stop fighting until all veterans get the care and benefits they deserve.