WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Thursday released the following statement after a report issued by OUTVETS and the Veterans Legal Clinic at the Legal Services Center of Harvard Law School and Veterans Legal Services said that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) systemically turned away veterans with Other Than Honorable (OTH) or ‘Bad Paper’ discharges. The report found that 400,000 veterans are still at risk of being turned away if they were to try to apply for health care today.   

“It’s unacceptable that the VA continues to slow walk treating our veterans under the new health care authorities in the Honor Our Commitment Act. I worked hard to pass this legislation into law because I heard from Connecticut combat veterans with Other Than Honorable discharges who were denied the mental health care they earned. It should be simple: if you put your life on the line for the United States, we’re supposed to have your back when you return home. I will continue to insist the VA notify Other Than Honorable veterans of their new eligibility for care and demand the Department is fully complying with the law,” said Murphy.

The Honor Our Commitment Act introduced by Murphy and former U.S. Representative Beto O’Rouke (D-Texas) requires the VA, for the first time, to provide mental and behavioral health care to hundreds of thousands of at-risk combat veterans and sexual assault victims who received OTH discharges, also sometimes referred to as ‘Bad Papers’ discharges. Before it became law in 2018, over 500,000 veterans were presumptively ineligible for any services from the VA. In 2018, Murphy expressed frustration with the VA’s progress in implementing the law and called on the VA speed up notification of  veterans of as required by the new law. After hearing from veterans that they continued to be denied health care, Murphy demanded U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert Wilkie comply with the law.  Last year, following reports that the VA was continuing to deny veterans with OTH discharges the services required under the Honor Our Commitment Act, Murphy led a group of senators, in sending a letter to VA Secretary Robert Wilkie demanding the VA comply with the law. 

In FY2019, the VA treated 3,765 veterans for mental health care injuries under the new authorities in the Honor Our Commitment Act. Veterans with Other Than Honorable discharges made on average 7.4 visits per individual to VA facilities and the most common diagnoses were Major Depressive Disorder and Substance Use Disorder.

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