Proposed cuts to the VA will limit health care access for our Idaho veterans. They deserve better.

Our soldiers have endured unimaginable hardships and faced profound challenges, testing the very limits of human resilience and strength. When they arrive home, the trauma many veterans experience abroad comes with them, and the toll it takes on their mental health can be devastating without intervention. Veterans will face additional challenges if promises of massive U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs layoffs around the country and in Idaho go forward.

Our veterans deserve better. 

Several Americans have protested cuts to the VA. Here in Boise at the VA campus, local community members have supported those protests, demonstrating just how important VA services are to Idaho veterans. Our communities are concerned about access to behavioral health care for our veterans and with good cause. Military veterans are 57.3% more likely to die by suicide than non-veteran U.S. adults. This stark statistic reveals the harsh reality that our service members face, particularly those living in rural areas like many veterans do here in Idaho. Our state has one of the highest rates of rural military populations, and it has a higher rate of VA reliance for health care than the national average. 

The Trump administration aims to cut 83,000 jobs from Veterans Affairs. The VA is tasked with caring for our veterans who return home, it provides crucial medical and behavioral health services including telehealth services for our rural vets. At the Boise VA campus alone, we may lose 300 employees, and this is a VA that already lacks staff for the vets it serves. 

Veterans and active-duty military personnel face unique challenges. Reintegrating into civilian life, Adverse Childhood Experiences (or ACEs) and post-traumatic stress all can contribute to poor mental health outcomes for our nation’s heroes.

Many veterans shy away from seeking help due to stigma, barriers to care created by the isolation of rural living, or a lack of access to services, but the need is real. Veterans in rural areas often feel most comfortable accessing these services through the VA, a community that knows what they have gone through, specifically telehealth options which can allow access to behavioral health professionals working from home.

Current changes by the administration have put into question these services, leaving our veterans uncertain about where they might find care in the future. 

Here in Idaho, one of the most pressing issues connected with this uncertainty is the disproportionate suicide rates among service members. Research consistently shows that veterans, especially those living in remote, rural regions — a common way of life in Idaho — are at greater risk of suicide. A lack of accessible mental health services can prevent veterans in need from receiving vital care.

Furthermore, for patients at risk of suicide continuity of care, including consistent follow-ups with trusted health care providers is critical. Any threat to losing that continuity of care poses a significant danger, it is well known to be a key component of successful strategies to prevent suicide.  

Veterans health care provided by the VA removes barriers to care associated with insurance accessibility and affordability, and in many cases has been offered with telehealth options. However, any health services required outside of the VA falls on the service members to cover. If the VA’s behavioral health services are disrupted in a way that jeopardizes telehealth for rural veterans, it not only creates a crisis in continuity of care but also establishes a significant barrier to access for many low-income veterans.

For veterans who are unable to access mental health services through the VA, safety net options such as the Idaho free and charitable clinics are crucial. These clinics are closely monitoring the situation, hoping for continued care and support for our nation’s heroes.

In the meantime, they can provide health care to any Idahoan without health insurance including our former service members. To ensure the wellbeing of our nation’s heroes, we must advocate for health care and behavioral health care as a basic human need, and work to improve and protect access to these services.

Veterans and service members deserve the support and care necessary to thrive, both during and after their service.