Bill includes Murphy plan for VA care for ‘bad paper’ discharges
Tucked into the massive federal spending package is a proposal worked on by Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., to allow service members separated from the military for misconduct to access behavioral and mental health services through the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The $1.3 trillion spending package, which was released by U.S. House Republicans on Wednesday night, funds the government through Sept. 30, and covers a variety of budget areas, from defense to opioids, and other legislative priorities. The House passed the measure by 256 to 167 Thursday afternoon. The Senate has until midnight today to vote on the measure to avoid a partial government shutdown.
Murphy, along with U.S. Sens. Jon Tester, D-Mont., and Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, introduced legislation last year to allow former service members who served in combat and received an other than honorable discharge to seek mental and behavioral health care through the VA, provided they served 100 days on active duty. It also applies to veterans with other than honorable discharges who were sexually assaulted. U.S. Reps. Beto O’Rourke, D-Texas, and Mike Bost, R-Ill., introduced the measure in the House. It was included in the larger spending package as part of negotiations among lawmakers leading up to its unveiling.
The U.S. military discharges more than 20,000 vets annually with one of five discharge statuses ranging from honorable to dishonorable. An other-than-honorable discharge, commonly referred to as “bad paper, is classified as an administrative discharge, and makes veterans ineligible for most VA benefits. Supporters of the proposal argue that denying this group of veterans access to the VA cuts them off from vital services that could help them get better.
“People in Connecticut believe that the men and women who risk their lives for our country and suffer the wounds of war should not be shut out of the VA system and denied the care they need,” Murphy said in a prepared statement.
The issue has gained national attention in recent years as veterans have traveled to Capitol Hill to explain how they were kicked out of the military due to conduct later attributed to mental health issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder.
If the proposal is passed, it would be a big win for the veterans who have been advocating for this nationally, but also a group of post-9/11 veterans in Connecticut who are pushing for a similar proposal in the state General Assembly.
Steve Kennedy, a former Army infantryman who heads the Connecticut chapter of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, said federal approval would make a stronger case for passing Senate Bill 284, which would provide state veteran benefits to bad paper veterans.
“It sends a strong message when even the federal VA recognizes that OTH discharges don’t properly account for mental health conditions and shouldn’t be a basis for summarily disqualifying veterans from services,” Kennedy said by email.
Kennedy, who received a general discharge, filed a class-action lawsuit against the Army arguing the service has not abided by a Pentagon policy to make it easier for veterans with PTSD to upgrade their discharge status.
Murphy’s proposal would affect between 800 and 1,000 Connecticut veterans, according to an estimate from Yale University’s Veterans Legal Services Clinic, which has become nationally prominent for its work helping veterans upgrade their discharge statuses.
A May 2017 report from the Government Accountability Office found that 62 percent of service members separated for misconduct from fiscal years 2011 to 2015 had been diagnosed with PTSD, a traumatic brain injury “or certain other conditions that could be associated with misconduct” at least two years before being discharged. Of those, 23 percent received an other than honorable discharge.