There are over 20 million veterans living in the US today. These men and women served their country, often sustaining injuries in the line of duty. In addition, many veterans suffer from chronic pain, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injuries, depression, and other conditions. However, the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA), which is responsible for providing medical care to these veterans, is failing in its task and needs serious changes to take place immediately.

I am requesting Acting Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Sloan D. Gibson, to address this pressing issue with the following actions:

1. Broaden VA health care coverage to a larger number of veterans. Currently veterans can only apply for VA health care within five years of ending service. This means that many older veterans no longer qualify for these services. These older veterans especially need health care to manage their well being as they age. In addition, older veterans are more likely to commit suicide.¹ Therefore, extending health care coverage to this group is imperative.

2. Drastically reduce wait times for receiving health care. Currently the wait time for a medical appointment is about eight to ten weeks, and it can take over an hour just to reach VA medical services by phone.² This matter is especially urgent because a significant number of veterans suffer from depression, which in many cases goes untreated and may lead to suicide. Long wait times for psychiatric care may prevent these veterans from getting the help they need. Shorter wait times would mean better access to both physical and psychiatric care, meaning fewer preventable deaths and suicides. We know for a fact that delayed cancer screenings played a role in the deaths of 23 veterans, and 40 others may have also died while waiting for care.³

3. Improve management of narcotic painkillers. Many veterans have been prescribed addictive painkillers in cases where they were unnecessary or excessive, and a significant portion of these veterans have a history of abusing drugs.4 In fact, VA medical centers prescribed opioid painkillers to about 450,000 veterans in 2012, often in violation of VA medical protocols.4 Many veterans have become dependant on these painkillers, which can lead to wider drug use. Better management of these narcotic painkillers would mean fewer addictions and better overall health for veterans.

If we want to improve the quality of life for our many veterans, the VA needs to make it a priority to immediately improve the quality of its medical services. Taking action as outlined above would lead to fewer veterans with drug addictions, fewer suicides, and better health care in general for our veterans. This in turn could alleviate many other problems, such as homelessness and unemployment. Join me today in your support of this critical and urgent matter by signing this petition.

Sources:

1. Cairney, “Why Are so Many Older Veterans Committing Suicide?”

2. Buzzell, Colby

3. “Sacking Shinseki Won’t Fix What Ails VA Health Care”

4. Nohlgren, “Poor Use of Meds at VA”