We especially thank all the veterans of Congress who signed on as co-sponsors of this important bill.

The Veterans Access to Care Act authorizes the Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs to establish and operate a statewide integrated health care system for Alabama veterans and their immediate families.

This state-run system is desperately needed due to the health care crisis facing the state's approximately 400,000 veterans and the inability of existing systems to meet their needs.

Since 2012, Alabama has led the nation in per capita opioid prescriptions each year. Opioid overdoses in Alabama have increased nearly every year since 2015, despite the Alabama Department of Mental Health spending $40 million annually to the Alabama Opioid Overdose and Addiction Council, and veterans No budget was allocated for special care for children and their families.

Unfortunately, many veterans rely on opioids and other substances to cope with physical pain, emotional pain, and trauma, and research shows a clear link between opioid use and veteran suicide. I am. From 2010 to 2019, opioid overdoses among Alabama veterans increased by 93.4%.

Retired Maj. Gen. Mike Sumrall, former adjutant general of the Alabama National Guard, said, “The suicide rate among veterans is twice that of non-veterans. Veterans make up just under 10% of the state's population, but veteran suicides are the highest in the state. They account for 18% of suicides. The tragic truth is that a veteran in Alabama takes their own life every 2.4 days. We have a mandate to provide better access to health care. This bill would significantly reduce wait times for appointments and provide services specifically tailored to veterans that no other health care provider in the state currently does. Providing peer-to-peer, culturally appropriate programs can go a long way toward achieving that.”

Federal Veterans Affairs medical centers and outpatient clinics are crowded. The majority of VA clinics in Alabama routinely fail to meet the mandated minimum standard of 20-day appointments, and wait times at VA facilities in the state are longer than expected for mental health appointments. It can range from as long as 64 days to as long as 64 days. Primary care appointments take 93 days.

There is precedent for the Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs operating multiple health care facilities, and currently operates four long-term care facilities (state veterans homes) in Alabama, with a fifth nearing completion.

As envisioned, the department will establish four to six residential health care facilities across the state and support as many as 25 outpatient clinics co-located with or adjacent to the department's Veterans Services offices to provide easily accessible health care. as well as create good-paying jobs for health care providers, counselors, and staff across the state.

The Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs provides primary care, mental health care, and other life-saving services to thousands of veterans and their families each year by implementing an integrated health care system designed to meet the unique needs of veterans. and provide relief to victims. an overburdened federal veterans health care system;

The Alabama Chapter Council of the Military Officers Association of America is acting urgently to pass the Veterans Access Act on behalf of Alabama's nearly 400,000 veterans and their families, nearly 25 in all. He asked the Alabama Legislature to do so. % of the state's population.