VA mishandles new benefit expansion
June 06, 2018
Implementation of a 2018 law that gave veterans who had an other-than-honorable discharge from the military mental health benefits has been largely mishandled by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
An expansion of a VA program that granted certain veterans with other-than-honorable discharges acute healthcare benefits during a crisis gives them eligibility for ongoing mental health care treatment. However, the VA failed to effectively notify potential beneficiaries.
Of the 500,000 veterans with an other-than-honorable discharge status, the VA estimates it treated less than one percent of them in each of the last two years—2,850 in 2018 and 940 in 2017. Seventy percent of this care was for mental health issues.
The VA had 180 days after the law went into effect in March 2018, but it did not do so until January 2019. It sent letters to the veterans who were potentially eligible but did not verify that they received them.
An other-than-honorable discharge is issued when a service member is released from military service for misconduct. This leaves them unable to collect any VA benefits except in a few cases, such as when the misconduct was caused by PTSD or other service-related trauma.
Veterans with an other-than-honorable discharge status are at an increased risk of suicide when not treated within the VA system, and vulnerable to other issues such as homelessness.
Proponents of this change in law say that it is a step in the right direction but that more work is necessary. Other-than-honorably discharged veterans who will now be eligible for mental health care services from the VA, will not be entitled to other benefits like disability compensation or care for other medical conditions not related to mental health.
In addition, and especially considering the VA’s failure to effectively roll out and notify eligible vets of the new law, advocates call for appropriate training for VA staff as changes are implemented. Some other-than-honorably discharged veterans have had issues when employees at clinics did not know how to handle their requests for service. For some, these confusing encounters can prevent them from following through with care.