NYHealth Senior Program Officer Derek Coy submitted the following testimony to the October 23, 2025, New York City Council Committee on Veterans jointly with the Committee on Aging Oversight – Needs of Older Veterans in New York City.
Thank you, Chairpersons Holden and Hudson, and members of the Committee, for the opportunity to testify on behalf of the New York Health Foundation (NYHealth). NYHealth is a private, independent, statewide foundation dedicated to improving the health of all New Yorkers, including the approximately 135,000 veterans who call New York City home. My name is Derek Coy; I’m a Senior Program Officer at NYHealth. I am also a proud veteran, having served as a Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps.
For more than 15 years, NYHealth has worked to understand and support the health needs of New York’s veterans. We do this through grantmaking, policy analysis, advocacy, research, and convenings. Our work has identified service gaps and helped develop innovative, community-based programs that meet veterans where they are. Over the years, we have had the opportunity to partner closely with City agencies and partners to ensure New York’s veterans receive high-quality, culturally competent care and support.
In New York City, approximately 50% of veterans—more than 70,000 veterans—are over the age of 65.[1] These older veterans represent a diverse and resilient group who have served our country and continue to contribute meaningfully to our communities. Yet, many face serious challenges, including chronic health conditions, mobility limitations, mental health concerns, social isolation, and difficulty navigating complex systems of care. Supporting the needs of older veterans today will strengthen systems for the future, ensuring more support for younger veterans as they age, helping mitigate and address similar challenges.
Understanding The Complex Care Needs of Older Veterans
As veterans age, their health and social needs evolve, often becoming more acute. Health care access, affordable housing, transportation, social support, and mental health services are especially critical. Unfortunately, older veterans in New York City can fall through the cracks—facing difficulty accessing federal benefits, unawareness of available services, or barriers like stigma, transportation, and physical disability.[2,][3]
Recent research from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health also shows that as veterans age, physical and mental health challenges often go hand in hand—especially for those who have seen combat. One long-term study of Vietnam War veterans found that combat exposure and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are strong predictors of mental health outcomes and chronic illnesses such as heart disease.[4] Another Columbia University study found that many older veterans experience sub-threshold PTSD, which is defined as having symptoms not severe enough for a clinical diagnosis. Sub-threshold PTSD was associated with negative health, social, and family outcomes.[5]
Additionally, NYHealth’s 2024 report, Deaths of Despair and Suicide Among New York City Veterans, highlights the need for focused suicide prevention services for older veterans. Veterans aged 65 and older die by suicide at two to three times the rate of their civilian counterparts. Veterans aged 75 and older experienced some of the highest suicide rates among all age groups, and in Brooklyn and Staten Island, they had the highest rates of any age group.[6]
Together, these findings demonstrate older veterans’ need for robust navigation and care for their physical and mental health as well as for social needs.
To support older veterans, we offer the following recommendations:
Strengthen Veteran-Centered Care Navigation
Navigating the intersection of the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA), Medicaid, Medicare, and other local programs and services is challenging even for the most resourceful individuals. A recent NYHealth publication shows that more than half of veterans in New York State enrolled in Medicaid are aged 65 and over, often as a supplement to other forms of coverage, especially for those with complex health care needs.[7] To help older veterans navigate available services, New York City should continue investing in outreach and service coordination programs like VetConnectNYC. This program refers veterans to appropriate community-based organizations, connecting them to services including housing, health, and employment. New York City should also increase collaboration between its agencies, community-based organizations, and health care providers to ensure that veterans can successfully navigate related programs and services.
Expand Access to Mental Health and Peer-Based Support
NYHealth has long championed the peer support model, particularly the Joseph P. Dwyer Peer Support Program, which successfully reduces isolation, connects veterans to services, and improves their wellbeing. We have also partnered with New York Cares and the New York City Department of Veterans’ Services (NYC DVS) to operate Mission: VetCheck. This program uses peer-based outreach to provide veterans with wellness check-ins, suicide screenings, and referrals to critical resources. These programs have reached thousands of veterans and built a robust referral network for behavioral health, benefits counseling, and housing support. The City should explore opportunities to expand upon this program model to meet the specific needs of older veterans.
Support Robust and Specific Data Collection
Routine, comprehensive data are needed to understand the older veteran populations in New York City adequately. New York City’s Bureau of Vital Statistics and NYC DVS should make relevant local data available and leverage it to aid government and nonprofit organizations in their service delivery and evaluation efforts. More precise and regular publications of data will inform policy development and service outreach. Future data efforts should also ensure data are disaggregated by age, race, ethnicity, and borough to inform tailored programs better and address disparities in veteran outcomes.
Conclusion
NYHealth is committed to supporting New York City’s efforts to support the needs of older veterans. It is our shared responsibility to ensure veterans age with dignity, security, and good health. Addressing these issues today is not only a moral obligation to the current generation but a strategy to ensure that future veterans do not suffer the same physical and mental health burdens.
We appreciate and share the Council’s commitment to New York City’s veterans. I hope you will look to the New York Health Foundation as a partner and resource for this work. You can learn about our veterans’ health work by visiting our website, www.nyhealthfoundation.org.
References
[1] New York City Department of Veterans. Data Analytics and Reporting. Accessed October 9, 2025. https://www.nyc.gov/site/veterans/about/public-reporting.page
[2] M. R. Augustine, T. Mason, A. Baim-Lance, and K. Boockvar. “Reasons Older Veterans Use the Veterans Health Administration and Non-VHA Care in an Urban Environment.” Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine 34, no. 2 (March-April 2021): 291–300. https://doi.org/10.3122/jabfm.2021.02.200332
[3] R. K. Blais, J. Tsai, S. M. Southwick, and R. H. Pietrzak. “Barriers and Facilitators Related to Mental Health Care Use Among Older Veterans in the United States.” Psychiatric Services 66, no. 5 (May 2015): 500–506. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.201300469
[4] S. D. Stellman, A. Pless Kaiser, B. N. Smith, A. Spiro, and J. M. Stellman, “Impact of Persistent Combat-Related PTSD on Heart Disease and Chronic Disease Comorbidity in Aging Vietnam Veterans,” Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine 67, no. 5 (May 2025): 299–305, https://doi.org/10.1097/JOM.0000000000003302
[5] S. D. Stellman, A. Pless Kaiser, B. N. Smith, A. Spiro, and J. M. Stellman, “Persistence and Patterns of Combat-Related Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Medical, and Social Dysfunction in Male Military Veterans 50 Years After Deployment to Vietnam,” Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine 67, no. 5 (May 2025): 306–12, https://doi.org/10.1097/JOM.0000000000003321
[6] New York Health Foundation, Navigating the Crisis: Deaths of Despair and Suicide Among New York City Veterans, (2024), Accessed October 2025. https://nyhealthfoundation.org/resource/nyc-deaths-of-despair-suicide/
[7] New York Health Foundation, Medicaid and New York’s Veterans, (2025), accessed October 16, 2025. https://nyhealthfoundation.org/resource/fact-sheet-medicaid-and-new-yorks-veterans/
