Senators implored VA Secretary to bolster lifesaving mental health care provisions under Hannon Act to aggressively combat veteran suicide crisis
(U.S. Senate) – Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Ranking Member Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) today urged Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Denis McDonough to expedite critical provisions under the Senators’ Commander John Scott Hannon Veterans Mental Health Care Improvement Act, also known as the Hannon Act, to connect veterans nationwide with lifesaving mental health care and suicide prevention services.
“With an already unacceptably high veteran suicide rate, the pandemic has only compounded the need for swift action to better meet veterans’ mental health needs,” the Senators wrote in their letter. “The Department must move quickly to implement the lifesaving provisions of the Hannon Act. We were proud to work across the aisle to develop this comprehensive veteran suicide prevention legislation, which was signed into law last fall, and now it is up to VA to implement the law as Congress intended.” Continue reading here…