The US Department of Veteran’s Affairs is launching a new outreach campaign to encourage all eligible Veterans to enroll in VA health care – including approximately 32,000 unenrolled Illinois 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.

The VA is launching this campaign after reports of concerns from Veterans about health issues – including mental health challenges and thoughts of suicide – 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.

Eligible Veterans can enroll today by visiting www.va.gov or calling 877-222-8387.