Background: Depressive disorders have been independently associated with increased morbidity and mortality in adults with cardiovascular disease (CVD). We sought to assess the association between depressive disorder and access to care and quality of care among U.S. veterans with CVD. Methods: The 2013 Centers for Disease Control’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey was utilized to identify a cohort of 13,126 veterans with CVD. Presence of CVD was noted with a single affirmative response to the following questions: “Has a health care professional ever told you that you had any of the following:” (1) a heart attack or myocardial infarction, (2) angina or coronary heart disease, (3) a stroke? Access to care variables included report of financial barriers to medical care and/or prescription drug costs and report of delay in receiving medical care. Quality of care variables included annual blood cholesterol check, blood sugar testing, flu shot administration, antihypertensive use, and aspirin use. Results: Among 13,126 veterans studied, a total of 2,889 (22%) adults had a depressive disorder while 10,237 (78%) did not. Veterans with a depressive disorder tended to be younger (p<0.0001), female (7% vs 4%, p<0.0001), non-white (21% vs 14%, p<0.0001), and of Hispanic ethnicity (4.0% vs 2.2%, p<0.0001). There were less likely to be married, employed, and homeowners, and reported lower annual income. Veterans with a depressive disorder had higher rates of hypertension (78% vs 73%), hypercholesterolemia (76% vs 67%), chronic kidney disease (12% vs 8%), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (33% vs 18%), asthma, smoking (25% vs 12%), obesity (40% vs 30%), and physical inactivity (45% vs 35%) (p<0.0001 for all). Veterans with a depressive disorder were more likely to report financial barriers to medical care (15% vs 6%, p<0.0001) and prescription drug costs (12% vs 5%, p<0.0001), and a delay in receiving medical care (24% vs 9%, p<0.0001). While no difference was noted in annual blood cholesterol check, blood sugar testing, and flu shot administration, veterans with depressive disorder reported significantly lower rates of aspirin (73% vs 78%, p=0.0003) and antihypertensive use (92% vs 94%, p<0.0001). In multivariate analysis, depressive disorder was associated with independently higher rates of reports of financial barriers to medical care (OR, 1.96; 95% CI, 1.45-2.65), financial barriers to prescription drugs (OR, 1.45; 95% CI, 1.02-2.08) and delay in receiving medical care (OR, 2.07; 95% CI, 1.65-2.60). Conclusions: Depressive disorder was associated with higher rates of financial barriers to care and prescription drugs, and patient-reported delays in medical care in U.S. veterans with CVD. Further research appears warranted to evaluate the impact of mental health disease upon cardiovascular care in veterans with CVD.