ptsd Congress To Investigate All Preumptaive Conditions

[OnRiver]

ap Democratic Sen. Daniel Akaka (uh-KAH’-kuh) is chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee. He said today that the committee will consider changes to the policy involving so-called presumptive conditions at a hearing in late September.http://www.jacksonsun.com/article/20100831/NEWS01/100831048/1002/rss

guys this is just the beginning as the U.S. is broke....better take this seriously....a review of PTSD could eventually follow as well as service related illnesses. They came first for the Communists,

and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.

Then they came for the trade unionists,

and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews,

and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for me

and by that time no one was left to speak up.

[stillhere]

This just amazes me after everything that the government has put us through. I am planning on being at the meeting on the 23rd and hope to get to ask a question or two of these folks myself.

If anyone has a question to ask I would consider all and ask the ones that don't get asked and pertain to this issue.

One question that I am leaning heavy on is if the congress thinks it is appropriate to be putting Vietnam through yet another set of questions after this was granted after a 40 year fight for benefits.

Another thing I am worried about is all the vets who are now retired and disabled being able to survive if they change the rules now so late in life. Many of us are over 60 years old and can not stand to have our benefits taken from us. I believe that if that happened you may be seeing quite a few more suicides.

Just my opinion and hope I have not ruffled any feathers.

[Philip Rogers]

It's highly unlikely they'll take away benefits already awarded. They'll just give us poor medical care so we die off sooner. jmo

pr

[OnRiver]

hope you are right but it sure doesnt look good...

[Testvet]

a few things PTSD is NOT a presumptive medical condition either you have it or you don't

the hearing in late September is for the new 3 "presumptive" conditions not even DMII that is a given already the subject is the IHD, hairy cell luekemia and the 3rd issue which I can't remember they are not going back and taking away already granted issues

veterans have enough problems without making stuff up

there are no "death panels" either

Sec Shinseki is going to have to justify the 3 new presumptive conditions he wants connected to AO nothing more and nothing less if Congress wants to deny them SC they have the power to unfund them, and then even if they don't you will still have veterans complaining that they are not getting paid back to when they were in Nam, or when they first started having heart problems etc bottom line is when did they file a claim for their medical problems that is related to these 3 conditions? Some will fall under the "Nehmer rules" and get paid back to when they first filed claims and were denied years ago other will get paid back to when they filed claims in the past few years since they started talking about cardiac conditions being related to AO and then you will have all the new vets that run in and file claims after the rules are enacted and their effective date will be the date they file the claim and then they will all start fighting about being cheated out of money some things never change

[john999]

There are less than a million "boots on the ground" Vietnam vets still living from what I have read here. Even if everyone living is compensated for some AO disease it will probably be no more than the number of OIF/OEF vets who get compensated for something. By managing to delay service connecting most of the really awful AO diseases for 30-40 years after the end of the war that has eased the burden on the treasury. By the time most of us RVN vets are in our 70's or 80's it will be conceded that all of us will die from an AO condition. If you can delay compensating someone for 50-60 years that is a success for the VA.

[JR Reihs]

http://www.aolhealth.com/2010/08/31/diabetes-now-top-health-claim-for-vietnam-vets/?icid=main%7Chtmlws-main-n%7Cdl8%7Csec3_lnk3%7C167736

Interesting article