LOUISVILLE, Ky. — For the first time ever all U.S. veterans can receive emergency mental health treatment free of charge after the VA expanded services to vets who normally didn’t meet its benefits requirements.
No soldier’s journey is the same, but Vietnam veteran Charles Scott says all who serve should receive the same care when they return. Scott was drafted by the Army and has the old pictures to prove it.
Spectrum News 1 joined Scott while he volunteered at Veteran’s Club Inc. in Louisville. Now retired from Ford Motor Company, Scott continues to connect with fellow retirees and veterans.
Scott is informing all veterans he meets about a new policy affecting all vets. Beginning in January, any veteran, whether in the VA system or not, can visit any hospital for free during a mental health emergency.
Now, a veteran can visit any hospital ER free of charge during a crisis. Outpatient care is now available for free as well. “They have these benefits coming down through the tube and now they are reaching out,” Scott says of the VA and of other organizations serving veterans.
Jeremy Harrell is the founder of Veteran’s Club Inc and says civilians may not realize being a veteran doesn’t guarantee free health coverage. There are requirements including meeting a certain number of months of continuous deployment in a foreign country.
The new mental health benefit applies to all veterans, regardless of the specifics of their service.
“This really creates an opportunity for them to get the help that they need and it helps us in our mission here because you know if they were to call and say that they were suicidal, we’d have to ask them a series of questions. You know, that’s time, and every minute counts when someone is in that dark place,” Harrell said
The goal of the expanded policy is to limit barriers between a veteran in crisis and the appropriate medical attention. “At the very least, if someone is willing to take their life, we have to take that serious and we just owe it to the person,” Harrell said.
Scott says outreach can be challenging in the veteran community but both he and Harrell say with stronger relationships between the VA, and nonprofits like Veterans Club, more vets are being briefed on the life saving resources available to them.