Opinion: Unseen battles: The harsh realities of veterans’ access to health care
I remember the day I left the military after six years of active-duty service. The crisp salute, the finality of it all. I was stepping into a world vastly different from the regimented life I had known. As a third-generation veteran, the military was more than a career; it was a legacy. But what I didn’t realize then was that leaving the military would mean entering a labyrinth of health care bureaucracy that seemed designed to confound and discourage.
The statistics are stark and sobering. As a veteran, I am part of a community where the suicide rate is 72% higher than that of non-veteran U.S. adults. This is not just a number; it’s a clarion call for change. My journey, my struggles, and my observations have led me to a simple yet profound conclusion: The health care system and government must make it easy for veterans to access care, easy to navigate the system, and easy to receive treatment.
