Panel OKs LaTourette's PTSD change
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
U.S. Rep. Steven C. LaTourette (R-OH)
today announced that the House Appropriations Committee has
approved his amendment to make it possible for servicemen and women
to obtain a Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) diagnosis at an
academic medical center like CWRU since some veterans are wary of
seeking mental health help at a VA facility.
LaTourette's amendment was approved late yesterday by the full
House Appropriations Committee, which finalized the Fiscal Year
2011 spending bill that funds military construction and the
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
The VA recently changed the rules to make it easier for veterans
to use a diagnosis of PTSD to qualify for disability
benefits. However, the new regulations only will allow a PTSD
diagnosis to be used to award benefits if it was made at a VA
facility. There is some concern if veterans seek mental
health evaluations with private doctors it could lead to fraudulent
findings and disability awards that aren't warranted.
LaTourette said he understands the VA's concerns, but said many
veterans are unwilling to seek help through the VA because the
process is so burdensome, can takes months or years, and there is a
huge backlog of cases. He said academic medical centers would
provide needed assistance.
LaTourette said centers like the one at Case Western Reserve
University are ideally suited to help veterans. The Committee
already had some accompanying report language to the spending bill
that addresses mental health services for veterans at these
centers, but LaTourette's amendment included specific language
addressing the need for the VA to use the expertise of these
centers. His language encourages the VA to "consider
diagnoses from these centers, especially in the area of
post-traumatic stress disorder when evaluating servicemembers for
benefits for this condition."
"Our servicemembers are subjected to both physical wounds and
psychological scars, especially those serving multiple tours of
duty in Iraq and Afghanistan," LaTourette said. "I applaud
the VA's efforts to help our veterans, but I also don't want those
needing treatment to be hamstrung by a spike in claims with the
VA. We have a solemn duty to care for our wounded
warriors."
Under the new VA regulations, veterans will not have to document
a specific event or stressor to bolster a PTSD
diagnosis. The new regulations will help veterans with
current and past service, including Vietnam-era veterans and other
conflicts. LaTourette said some Vietnam veterans have spent
decades trying to be approved for disability. In addition,
LaTourette said about one in five servicemembers (male and female)
who've returned from Iraq and Afghanistan reported symptoms of PTSD
or depression and almost half have not sought treatment.
About 400,000 veterans currently receive benefits for PTSD, ranging
from a few hundred dollars to a maximum of $2,700 a month.
"The nature of battle is changing, and our servicemen and women
witness unthinkable acts of violence, like roadside bombs and
suicide bombers rigged to explode and kill many. The suicide
rate among servicemembers is up, and those who return home are
often never the same and need help with flashbacks, anger, anxiety
and other issues," LaTourette said.
Under the new regulations, veterans who were previously denied
benefits will be able to reapply, and those whose claims are
pending will be entitled to retroactive benefits from the date they
applied. The regulations also ease the burden for women who
don't serve in combat roles, but experience many of the same mental
traumas as those in combat.