K. Watson and S. Cook
CBS News
Originally posted 17 Jan 24
Here is an excerpt:
A 2021 Brown University study estimated that more than 30,000 veterans of post-9/11 conflicts have died by suicide, more than four times the 7,057 U.S. military personnel killed at the time in those conflicts.
And the veteran suicide rate has outpaced the rate of the general U.S. public. A 2023 report by the Department of Veterans Affairs found that in 2021, the suicide rate for veterans was 71.8% higher than non-veterans when adjusted for age and sex differences.
That same report found that 6,392 veterans died by suicide in 2021, an average of more than 17 veterans taking their lives every day.
In November 2021, the Biden administration released a new national strategy to reduce military and veteran suicide, calling it a "public health and national security crisis."
"I've often said that we have only one truly sacred obligation as Americans—to prepare and properly equip our women and men in uniform when we send them into harm's way, and to care for them and their families when they return," President Biden wrote in the introduction to the strategy document. "Yet for too many who are serving or have served, we are falling short."
Key points:
49,714 veterans accessed the program: This translates to over $64 million saved in healthcare costs.
Program covers: Emergency room care, inpatient/crisis residential care for up to 30 days, and outpatient care for up to 90 days.
Accessibility: Veterans don't need to be enrolled in the VA system to qualify.
