Senator John Tester Introduces Bill to Revamp VA Suicide Prevention Strategy

Senator John Tester, the chair of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee and a Montana Democrat, is currently advocating for a substantial revision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) suicide prevention algorithm in response to a concerning investigation conducted by The Fuller Project and Military Times. The investigation demonstrated that the current algorithm prioritizes white male veterans for outreach efforts while disregarding critical risk factors that adversely affect female veterans.

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Tester's legislation, which was introduced late last month, aims to modify the algorithm to incorporate supplementary factors that increase the risk of suicide, particularly for women. The current model has been criticized for favoring "divorced and male" and "widowed and male" veterans, while female veterans receive little to no consideration. It is important to note that the algorithm does not account for factors such as military sexual trauma and intimate partner violence, which are associated with elevated suicide rates among female veterans.

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A concerning trend has been identified in recent government data, which indicates a 24% increase in suicide rates among female veterans from 2020 to 2021. This increase is four times greater than the rate of growth among male veterans during the same period. Tester underscored the necessity for the VA to recognize the distinctive obstacles encountered by female veterans, asserting, "The VA must consider the supplementary risk factors that women veterans encounter."

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Tester has prioritized veterans' issues as a central theme of his platform as he navigates a competitive re-election campaign that has the potential to impact Senate control.

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