Last year, the Veterans Administration implemented an important new program designed to help veterans going through mental and emotional challenges.
Wally Musto of Warwick reached out recently to ask me to publicize this new aspect of VA care. He is concerned that most veterans are not aware that they can call 911 if they feel badly distressed or emotionally unstable. They can be brought to the closest emergency facility at no cost, and the VA will reimburse that provider for their care – even if the episode proves to be a false alarm.
Count me as one of those who did not know this.
Musto should know what he’s talking about. Retired from the Rhode Island Air National Guard in 2006 as a senior chief master sergeant after 38 years in the military, he spent four years at Brown University recruiting veterans for a PTSD risk factor study. From 2010 until last year, he worked in the Jamaica Plain VA as Recruitment and Retention Manager.
I dug into it and learned that this benefit, authorized by the COMPACT Act, allows veterans to get no-cost mental health treatment at both Veterans Affairs and non-VA facilities, with the goal of preventing veteran suicide.