ARIZONA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Fifty-fourth Legislature

Second Regular Session

House: MVA DP 7-0-0-0

HB 2135: veteran suicides; annual report

Sponsor:  Representative Lawrence, LD 23

                                                                Caucus & COW                                                 

Overview

Adds data to be included in the annual report on veteran suicides.

History

Laws 2019, chapter 104 established the annual veteran suicide report compiled by the Arizona Department of Health Services (DHS) that include the following:

1)    The number and rate of Arizona veterans who died by suicide for the completed calendar year;

2)    Historic trends of veteran suicide rates and instances in Arizona covering at least the last 5 years;

3)    Historic trends of rates and instances of the most common mechanism of suicide among Arizona's veterans;

4)    An analysis of the years of potential life lost to suicide among Arizona's veterans;

5)    Comparisons of Arizona's veteran suicide rate to the suicide rates of the nation and other regions of the country during the same time period as reported by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs;

6)    An analysis of the relative risk of suicide patterns among Arizona's veterans, including a demographic breakdown by race or ethnicity, age group, gender and region of the state;

7)    A regional distribution analysis of suicide patterns among Arizona's veterans that considers population density as a potential risk factor and informs the distribution of suicide prevention services within Arizona;

8)    An analysis of patterns of drugs, or combinations of drugs, that were used by Arizona's veterans when drug poisoning was the mechanism of suicide; and

9)    An analysis of patterns of recent medical history of Arizona's veterans who died by suicide using data from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs and from the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System.

The Arizona Department of Veterans' Services (ADVS) is required to provide data to DHS for the completion of the report (A.R.S. § 36-132).  

Provisions

1.    ☐ Prop 105 (45 votes) ☐ Prop 108 (40 votes) ☐ Emergency (40 votes) ☐ Fiscal NoteRequires the annual report to include utilization and encounter data for a nonprofit veterans' service organization that provides services related to reducing suicides among Arizona's military and veteran populations. (Sec. 1)

2.    Allows the data that ADVS is required to provide DHS to include national, state and local sources as available. (Sec. 1)  

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6.    Initials JT/VG                    Caucus & COW

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