Military Service and Military Health Care Coverage are Associated with Reduced Racial Disparities in Time to Mental Health Treatment Initiation.

We aimed to evaluate whether military service and access to veteran heath care coverage attenuates racial/ethnic disparities in time to mental health treatment initiation for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), major depressive disorder, and/or alcohol-use disorder. Results are based on 13,528 civilians and 1392 veterans from NESARC-III. Among civilians, racial/ethnic minorities reported longer time to PTSD and depression treatment initiation than non-Hispanic whites. Among veterans, racial/ethnic minorities did not differ from whites in time to PTSD and depression treatment initiation, and showed shorter time to treatment initiation for alcohol-use disorder treatment. Racial/ethnic minorities with past year veteran health care coverage showed the strongest evidence for attenuated disparities.