President Obama Signs Key Veterans' Mental HealthLaw

President Barack Obama today signed into law the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans (SAV) Act, intended to reduce suicide and improve access to mental health care for veterans. The bill had been passed unanimously by the House and Senate.

“Too many of our troops and veterans are still struggling; for many of them the war goes on,” said Obama. “We will not be satisfied until every man and woman in uniform gets the help they need to stay strong and healthy.”

Among other provisions, the legislation authorizes a loan repayment program to help recruit at least 10 psychiatrists each year for three years to fill vacant full-time positions. It also increases peer support and outreach for service members, extends eligibility for an additional year for mental health care services at the Veterans Health Administration, and requires evaluation of mental health care and suicide prevention practices.

APA strongly supported the legislation, noted CEO and Medical Director Saul Levin, M.D., M.P.A.

“APA is proud to have worked alongside veterans groups like the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America to push for this new law,” said Levin, who attended the White House signing ceremony with APA president Paul Summergrad, M.D. “We are committed to providing our veterans with the quality mental health care they deserve, and the Clay Hunt SAV Act is an important step forward in improving their access to care.”

“Today is a more hopeful day for America’s veterans,” added Summergrad. “The brave men and women who served our country have sacrificed so much for us, and the Clay Hunt SAV Act is one way we can begin to repay them by improving much-needed access to mental health care and to reduce the tragedy of veteran suicides.”

For more in Psychiatric News about the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans (SAV) Act, see: "Push for Suicide Prevention Law Hits Senate Roadblock."

(Image: White House)

APA Applauds Senate Passage of Veterans Mental Health Services Bill

The U.S. Senate today passed the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans (SAV) Act, which will help alleviate the shortage of mental health clinicians in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) by implementing a pilot medical student loan repayment program aimed at attracting and retaining at least 10 additional psychiatrists per year for the next three years.

The legislation, passed by the House of Representatives on January 12, now goes to the White House for President Barack Obama’s signature.

“Veterans have sacrificed so much for us, and it is our most sacred obligation to provide them with the mental health care they need,” said APA President Paul Summergrad, M.D., in a statement. “APA is deeply honored to have stood shoulder to shoulder with many organizations and individuals supporting this legislation, which will make a real difference in the lives of the men and women who served our country."

The law is named in honor of U.S. Marine Clay Hunt, an Iraq and Afghanistan War veteran and suicide prevention advocate who died by suicide in 2011.

The legislation requires the VHA to report to Congress on the repayment program’s impact on psychiatric vacancies and recruitment. It will also improve the exchange of training, best practices, and other resources between the VHA and nonprofit health organizations.

For more in Psychiatric News on the Clay Hunt Act, see “Senators, Vets, Families Push VA for Better Mental Health Care.”

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House Passes Bill Aimed at Improving Psychiatric Care in the VA

APA hailed passage yesterday by the House of Representatives of legislation that would help the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) attract and retain psychiatrists and improve the agency's suicide-prevention efforts. The Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans (SAV) Act is named in honor of an Iraq and Afghanistan war veteran and suicide-prevention advocate who took his own life in 2011. The bill sailed through the House in December, but it stalled in the Senate after a retiring senator, Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), objected to the cost.

“Too often the men and women who serve our country do not have timely access to the mental health care they need and deserve,” said APA President Paul Summergrad, M.D. “Losing 22 veterans a day to suicide should move us all to immediate action. APA strongly supports the Clay Hunt SAV Act, which will make a real difference in the lives of many veterans by improving access to much needed mental health care.... We now ask that the Senate adopt this important legislation for our veterans.”

The bill would establish a pilot project encouraging more psychiatrists to choose a career with the VHA by offering medical school loan repayments on par with other government agencies and private organizations. Current policy makes it difficult for the VHA to compete with employers that offer employment incentives, such as medical school loan repayment. The bill would authorize the agency to recruit at least 10 psychiatrists into the loan-repayment program each year. It would also authorize a Government Accountability Office study of pay disparities affecting psychiatrists at the VA.

A summary of the bill is posted here. For more information, see the Psychiatric News article, “Push for Suicide Prevention Law Hits Senate Roadblock.”

(Image: Straight 8 Photography/shutterstock.com)

Act Now to Improve Psychiatric Care for Veterans!

Veterans returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have an enormous need for mental health care, particularly for treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), substance use disorders, and suicidal thoughts and behaviors. The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) has struggled, however, with mixed degrees of success, to address the needs of the veterans. But legislation before both the Senate and House of Representatives to ameliorate a shortage of VHA psychiatrists could result in significant strides toward helping the agency deliver quality mental health care to veterans.

APA is strongly urging psychiatrists to contact their senators and representatives to register their support for passage of the bill, which is known as the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans (SAV) Act. The SAV Act (S. 2930/H.R. 5059) would, among other provisions, establish a medical school loan repayment program for psychiatrists in the VHA, which the law's supporters hope will be an effective tool to recruit more psychiatrists to the agency. With Congress considering comprehensive reform to the VHA, there is momentum for improving mental health care, but members of Congress need to hear from their constituents. Click here to contact your representatives urging them to support the Clay Hunt SAV Act.

(image: Orhan Cam/Shutterstock)

Senators Hear Testimony on MH Care and Suicide Prevention for Veterans

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators expressed concern at a hearing Wednesday about what they see as the slow pace of change in the Veterans Health Administration’s (VHA) mental health care system—a concern intensified after listening to two women whose sons, veterans of Iraq or Afghanistan, had died by suicide.

“When people are hurting, they don’t want to wait to get help,” stressed committee chair Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who then asked how the $5 billion authorized for hiring additional clinicians was being spent. Those funds were not specifically allocated for mental health care providers, replied psychiatrist Harold Kudler, M.D. (above, right), chief mental health services consultant for the VHA. However, the agency was nevertheless allocated a share of those funds to recruit more providers, increase points of access, and test new modes of outreach in rural areas.

Still other avenues could be explored in the effort to reduce the number of veterans who die by suicide, said psychiatrist Elspeth Cameron Ritchie, M.D., M.P.H., (above, left), a retired Army colonel who is now chief clinical officer of the Washington, D.C., Department of Behavioral Health and a member of an Institute of Medicine panel that studied the effectiveness of treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder.

The VHA should, for example, conduct more research to understand which of its patients are at increased risk for suicide, Ritchie said. Service members also should be screened with closer attention to specific tasks they performed while deployed, as well as for any toxic exposures—like Agent Orange or the antimalarial drug mefloquine—which might produce symptoms of psychiatric illness or increased suicide risk.

The testimony was presented as the Senate considered the Clay Hunt SAV [Suicide Prevention for American Veterans] Act, which includes measures for suicide prevention and medical school loan forgiveness for psychiatrists and certain other practitioners who join the VHA.

For more about mental health issues that affect veterans and the findings of the Institute of Medicine report, see the Psychiatric News article “Pentagon, VA Lack Data to Assess PTSD Care Systems.”

(Image: Aaron Levin/Psychiatric News)

Parents of Veterans Who Died by Suicide Criticize VA's Mental Health Care

On Thursday, the House Veterans Affairs Committee listened to emotional stories from family members of soldiers who lost their lives as a result of what they say is inadequate mental health care provided by the Veterans Health Administration.

"We have held a full series of oversight hearings over the last several weeks to evaluate the systemic access and integrity failures that have consumed the VA health care system," said committee Chair Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Fla.) at the hearing's start. "Perhaps none of these hearings have presented the all-too-human face of the VA’s failure so much as today’s hearings will."

Three families and retired military personnel testified before the committee about the barriers uniformed men and women face in accessing effective mental health care. Susan Selke, mother of Marine Sgt. Clay Hunt, 28, who lost his life to suicide in 2011, said that her son was prescribed a brand-name antidepressant that worked well, but was forced to switch drugs because no generic equivalent of the original, and effective, antidepressant was available. Army Sgt. Josh Renschler, who was being treated for anxiety and other medical conditions resulting from a mortar blast in Iraq, explained that he was receiving excellent care through an integrative health initiative until VA "medical center leadership concluded that… [it] was too costly." Other topics discussed were lack of available mental health professionals, long waiting lists, and ineffective communication between the VA and Department of Defense as it concerns veterans’ health records.

"I think that today's hearings went well" said Selke, in an interview with Psychiatric News after her testimony. "I was very pleased at the level of interest, and hopefully some major responses are underway." Later that afternoon, Selke, along with her husband, Richard, and Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), an Iraq war veteran, announced the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act, a bill that would provide suicide-awareness education for veterans and educational loan assistance to those seeking a career in mental health care at the VA.

For information on how to get involved in the push for better mental health care services for military men and women, visit APA’s Legislative Action Center. To read about the recent mental health issues concerning the Veterans Health Administration, see the Psychiatric News articles, "Pentagon, VA Lack Data to Assess PTSD Care Systems," and "Veterans Affairs Scheduling Scandal Leads to Turmoil at the Top."

(photo: Vabren Watts, Psychiatric News)