Veterans May See Increase in Mental Health Care Spending

Jim Fausone
Veterans Disability Lawyer


The proposed budget for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs 2013 fiscal year includes an increase in the funding for mental health care treatment of more than 5 percent.

This bump in funding represents an increase in the VA’s commitment to the mental health care of veterans as another one million active duty personnel join the ranks of veterans over the next five years.

The VA’s proposed $6.2 billion mental health care budget would help first with outreach and screenings since so many of the country’s veterans in need are suffering in silence. The money also would go toward programs that help reduce the stigma that can go along with mental health issues.

The mental health care budget also would support new technologies for self-assessment and post-traumatic stress disorder symptom management.

That’s only part of the VA’s massive $140 billion budget. Another part of the health care budget not included in the $6.2 billion set aside for mental health care is about $583 million in medical research appropriations. This money, along with $1.3 billion from other sources, goes to researching traumatic brain injury, PTSD and suicide prevention.