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ptsd Proposal To Ease Aid For G.i.'s With Stress Disorder
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allan
Subject: [VeteranIssues] Proposal to Ease Aid for G.I.'s With Stress Disorder
Date: Aug 29, 2009 11:18 AM
Note: Always be suspicious, when someone says I am from the Govt, & I am
here to help you..Very few VA Drs
Will ever state it appears to be service connected. Look's like old
hard-line VA staffers are putting one over on VA Sec. (s) ColonelDan"
August 26, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/26/us/26vet..._r=3&ref=us
Proposal to Ease Aid for G.I.'s With Stress Disorder
By JAMES DAO
Under fire from veterans groups and Congress for its handling of disability
claims, the Department of Veterans Affairs is proposing new regulations that
it says will make it easier for veterans to seek compensation for
post-traumatic stress disorder.
The proposal is intended to lower the burden on noncombat veterans who claim
they developed PTSD in the service and to speed processing of those claims,
which represent a significant part of the 82,000 disability claims the
department receives each month.
Current rules require veterans who have received diagnoses of PTSD to
document that they experienced traumatic events during service that
triggered the disorder. For veterans who did not serve in combat units, such
proof can be difficult to find given the unevenness of military record
keeping.
But veterans' advocates have argued that many noncombat troops, including
truck drivers and supply clerks, have experienced such events, which include
roadside bombs, firefights, mortar attacks or the deaths of friends. Despite
receiving diagnoses of PTSD, many of those troops struggle to receive
disability compensation.
The proposed rule would eliminate the requirement to document triggering
events, provided veterans with PTSD could show that they were in places and
performed duties where such events might have occurred. Their symptoms must
also be consistent with the trauma they claim to have experienced.
By some estimates, 20 percent of troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan
have PTSD.
In a news release on Monday, the secretary of veterans affairs, Eric K.
Shinseki, said, "The hidden wounds of war are being addressed vigorously and
comprehensively by this administration as we move V.A. forward in its
transformation to the 21st century."
Dennis M. Cullinan, national legislative director for Veterans of Foreign
Wars, called the proposed change "a big plus" for veterans. Mr. Cullinan
cited the example of a truck driver in Iraq who might have experienced
repeated roadside bomb attacks but whose military record would not have
shown combat duty.
Mr. Cullinan also said that changing the policy administratively was faster
than waiting for legislation. A bill in Congress that would make similar
changes, sponsored by Representative John Hall, Democrat of New York, faces
opposition because of the projected cost, nearly $5 billion.
But some veterans' advocates responded skeptically to the proposed
regulation, which now must undergo a 60-day review period.
"Whenever the V.A. touts a proposed compensation rule change that it says
will 'make it easier for a veteran to claim service connection,' red flags
go up all over the place," a veterans' advocate, Larry Scott, wrote on his
Web site, vawatchdog.org.
Critics said the proposed rule would still require veterans to prove a
connection between a traumatizing event and their PTSD, even when that
connection was not clear cut. Strict application of that requirement could
lead to many rejected claims, they say.
Katrina J. Eagle, a veterans' lawyer in California, said the proposed rule
would also require veterans to receive diagnoses from department-employed or
approved psychiatrists and psychologists. Currently, veterans can receive
diagnoses from their own psychiatrists.
"This is their way of being able to control the diagnosis," Ms. Eagle said.
"I don't see how this is going to make it easier."
But other veterans' advocates said the proposed requirement on using
department psychiatrists seemed like a reasonable means to reduce fraud and
standardize diagnoses.
Meaghan Smith, a spokeswoman for Mr. Hall, said that he thought the proposed
rule change was "pretty significant" but that he would study it closer to
make sure it was "as inclusive" as his bill.
"Keep on, Keepin' on"
Dan Cedusky, Champaign IL "Colonel Dan"
See my web site at:
http://www.angelfire.com/il2/VeteranIssues/
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