{"id":7506,"date":"2024-12-04T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-04T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7506"},"modified":"2024-12-04T16:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-12-04T16:00:00","slug":"amid-concerns-about-blast-exposure-va-launches-new-outreach-campaign-to-enroll-veterans-in-health-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7506","title":{"rendered":"Amid concerns about blast exposure, VA launches new outreach campaign to enroll Veterans in health care"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"tni-source-date\"><strong>Originally published:<\/strong> 2024-12-04T16:00:00+00:00. Historical source article: benefits, rules, amounts and deadlines may have changed. Check the official source for current information.<\/p>\n<p><strong>WASHINGTON<\/strong>  <strong>\u2014<\/strong>Today, VA is launching a new outreach campaign to encourage all eligible Veterans to enroll in VA health care \u2013 including approximately 1 million unenrolled Veterans who served in Vietnam, the Gulf War, Iraq, and Afghanistan. This campaign will include text messages and emails directly to Veterans, public service announcements, paid advertising, and events.<\/p>\n<p>VA is launching this campaign after reports of concerns from Veterans about health issues \u2013 including mental health challenges and thoughts of suicide \u2013 potentially related to repeated blasts and head trauma (low-level artillery blasts, IEDs, missile launches, heavy fire, and more). Since the first reporting about these concerns, VA researchers have been urgently studying this matter to learn more about the potential health impacts of blast exposure on Veterans.<\/p>\n<p>Veterans enrolled in VA can access specialty screenings and services to address any health issues related to blast exposure. Importantly, Veterans who served in Vietnam, the Gulf War, Iraq, and Afghanistan, and other specific locations are eligible for VA health care based on their deployments \u2014 they do not need to have any health conditions specifically associated with their service in order to be eligible for care.<\/p>\n<p>While VA continues to urgently conduct research into the impact of blast exposure, VA and the entire Biden-Harris Administration encourage these Veterans \u2013 and all eligible Veterans \u2013 to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.va.gov\/health-care\/how-to-apply\/\" rel=\"noopener\">apply for VA care today<\/a>. Veterans who use VA health care have better health outcomes than non-enrolled Veterans, VA hospitals are <a href=\"https:\/\/news.va.gov\/press-room\/va-health-care-outperforms-non-va-care-in-two-independent-nationwide-quality-and-patient-satisfaction-reviews\/\">dramatically outperforming non-VA hospitals,<\/a> and VA health care is often\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.va.gov\/health-care\/copay-rates\/\" rel=\"noopener\">more affordable<\/a>\u00a0than non-VA health care for Veterans. Additionally, 92% of\u00a0Veteran patients currently report trusting VA outpatient health care \u2013 an all-time high.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe take Veteran concerns about repeated blast exposure very seriously, and we are studying this matter urgently to learn more about potential health impacts,\u201d said\u00a0<strong>VA Secretary Denis McDonough. <\/strong>\u201cWhile we do that, we don\u2019t want Veterans to wait \u2013 they should enroll in VA health care today to get full access to primary care, mental health care, regular screenings, specialty care, and more. That\u2019s what this outreach effort is all about: getting Veterans in our care, because Veterans who come to VA are proven to do better.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVA aims to be the best, most accessible, and most affordable health system in America for Veterans, and we are constantly looking for ways to improve that care as science and research tells us about new concerns,\u201d said\u00a0VA<strong>\u00a0Under Secretary for Health Shereef Elnahal, M.D. <\/strong>\u201cThe more Veterans who enroll, the more we can learn about the impact of blast exposure \u2013 and the better care we can ultimately provide those who served.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this year, VA made <a href=\"https:\/\/news.va.gov\/press-room\/veteran-toxins-hazards-serving-eligible-va\/\">all Veterans who were exposed to toxins and other hazards (and meet basic requirements) eligible to enroll directly in VA health care<\/a> \u2013 years earlier than called for by the PACT Act. This included all Veterans who served in the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, Iraq, Afghanistan, the Global War on Terror, or any other combat zone after 9\/11. Veterans who never deployed but were exposed to toxins or hazards while training or on active duty in the United States are also eligible to enroll. Additionally, Veterans who do not meet any of the above criteria can often still access VA health care by receiving VA disability benefits or based on income.<\/p>\n<p>This new outreach effort is a part of the largest outreach campaign in VA history, which began when President Biden signed the PACT Act into law in 2022 and continues to this day. As a result of this campaign, more than 835,000 Veterans have enrolled in VA health care (a 37% increase over the previous period); more than 900,000 Veterans have upgraded their priority groups, making them eligible for health care with fewer copays (an all-time record); and more than 4.4 million Veterans and survivors have applied for disability compensation benefits (another all-time record). The campaign has been focused on bringing new Veterans to VA by sending millions of texts and emails, hosting thousands of events nationwide, launching new paid advertising campaigns, working with influencers and companies, and more.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"tni-attribution\">Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/news.va.gov\/press-room\/amid-concerns-about-blast-exposure-va-launches-new-outreach-campaign-to-enroll-veterans-in-health-care\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs<\/a>. Its Veterans is an independent publication and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>VA launches new outreach campaign enrolling Veterans in health care amid blast exposure concerns<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":91,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-u-s-veterans-health-care"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Amid concerns about blast exposure, VA launches new outreach campaign to enroll Veterans in health care - Its Veterans<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"VA launches new outreach campaign enrolling Veterans in health care amid blast exposure concerns\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7506\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Amid concerns about blast exposure, VA launches new outreach campaign to enroll Veterans in health care - 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