The Department of
Veterans Affairs will propose new regulations on Friday that will make it
easier for thousands of veterans to receive health care and compensation for
certain illnesses that have been linked to traumatic brain injury.
The regulations, which will be published on Monday in the Federal Register,
lists Parkinsonism, unprovoked seizures,
certain dementias, depression and hormone deficiency diseases related to the
hypothalamus, pituitary or adrenal glands as eligible for the expanded benefits.
The proposal, which must undergo a 60-day public comment period, could open
the door to tens of thousands of veterans filing claims with the Veterans
Benefits Administration, which is already struggling to process a huge
inventory of such claims.
Since 2000, more than 250,000 service members — some
still on active duty — have received diagnoses of traumatic brain injury, or
T.B.I., according to the Defense Department. Though T.B.I. is commonly viewed
as resulting from blast exposure, the vast majority of those injuries were
diagnosed in nondeployed troops who were involved in vehicle crashes, training
accidents or sports injuries.
The Department of Veterans Affairs says that a much smaller number of
veterans — about 51,000 — are currently receiving benefits for
service-connected traumatic brain injuries. However the department acknowledges
that thousands more troops with T.B.I. may be eligible for the expanded
benefits.
Veterans of prior wars will also be eligible for the
benefits, if they can demonstrate that a traumatic brain injury was connected
to their military service.
Under current rules, a veteran with one of the five
illnesses has to provide medical evidence that the disease is the result of
military service in order to receive veterans’ benefits.
The new rule would potentially speed up and simplify
their cases, provided a veteran could first demonstrate a service-connected
traumatic brain injury. Once that is established, the department will accept
without further evidence that any of those five diseases was caused by the
T.B.I., making the veteran eligible for additional compensation and health care
for that particular disease.
The regulations include some significant restrictions
on eligibility, however. Veterans with Parkinsonism — a neurological syndrome
often resulting in tremors or muscle rigidity — as well as unprovoked seizures,
dementias and hormone deficiency diseases will be eligible only if their
traumatic brain injury was moderate or severe.
The vast majority of such injuries, about 8 in 10, are
classified as mild, with most of the rest moderate and a small number severe.
The Institute of Medicine, an independent
research unit of the National Academy of Sciences, defines a mild traumatic
brain injury as involving a loss of consciousness or memory lasting less than
30 minutes. Severe T.B.I. entails loss of consciousness or memory lasting more
than 24 hours.
The Department of Veterans Affairs said in a news
release that it based its policy on a 2008
Institute of Medicine study, which concluded that evidence linking mild
T.B.I.’s to the diseases was only “limited or suggestive.”
“We must always decide veterans’ disability claims
based on the best science available,” the secretary of veterans affairs, Eric
K. Shinseki, said in the release. “Veterans who endure health problems deserve
timely decisions based on solid evidence that ensure they receive benefits
earned through their service to the country.”
The proposed regulations also set time restrictions for
some of the illnesses. Dementias must become apparent within 15 years of a
moderate or severe traumatic brain injury. Hormone deficiency diseases must
manifest themselves within one year of a moderate or severe brain injury.
And depression must become evident within three years of a moderate or severe
brain injury or within one year of a mild one.
The limits in the coverage are likely to draw criticism
from veterans’ groups. Still, the announcement clearly pleased advocates who
had spent years pushing for expanded benefits for T.B.I.
“Veterans should be pleased with the new regulations,”
said Paul Sullivan, a leading advocate for the proposed regulations. But Mr.
Sullivan, who is director of public relations for a law firm, Bergmann &
Moore, that handles veterans’ claims, said the department must increase
training and staffing to ensure that it can handle the wave of new claims
likely to result from the new policy.
The last time the department significantly expanded
benefits — in 2010, for several diseases linked to Agent Orange, the defoliant
used in Vietnam — it prompted a tidal wave of new claims, significantly adding
to the department’s backlog. Though the department has cleared most of those
Agent Orange claims, it still has an inventory of nearly 900,000 pending
claims.
Department officials said they had no plans to hire
extra personnel to handle the new regulations, noting that they did not
anticipate that the number of additional claims would be very large.
Question
teejay53
Thought this would be of interest.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Link to this.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/07/us/benefit-rules-eased-for-veterans-with-brain
injuries.html?ref=veterans&_r=0
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Rules Eased for Veterans’ Brain Injury Benefits
By JAMES DAO Published: December 7, 2012
The Department of
Veterans Affairs will propose new regulations on Friday that will make it
easier for thousands of veterans to receive health care and compensation for
certain illnesses that have been linked to traumatic brain injury.
The regulations, which will be published on Monday in the Federal Register,
lists Parkinsonism, unprovoked seizures,
certain dementias, depression and hormone deficiency diseases related to the
hypothalamus, pituitary or adrenal glands as eligible for the expanded benefits.
The proposal, which must undergo a 60-day public comment period, could open
the door to tens of thousands of veterans filing claims with the Veterans
Benefits Administration, which is already struggling to process a huge
inventory of such claims.
Since 2000, more than 250,000 service members — some
still on active duty — have received diagnoses of traumatic brain injury, or
T.B.I., according to the Defense Department. Though T.B.I. is commonly viewed
as resulting from blast exposure, the vast majority of those injuries were
diagnosed in nondeployed troops who were involved in vehicle crashes, training
accidents or sports injuries.
The Department of Veterans Affairs says that a much smaller number of
veterans — about 51,000 — are currently receiving benefits for
service-connected traumatic brain injuries. However the department acknowledges
that thousands more troops with T.B.I. may be eligible for the expanded
benefits.
Veterans of prior wars will also be eligible for the
benefits, if they can demonstrate that a traumatic brain injury was connected
to their military service.
Under current rules, a veteran with one of the five
illnesses has to provide medical evidence that the disease is the result of
military service in order to receive veterans’ benefits.
The new rule would potentially speed up and simplify
their cases, provided a veteran could first demonstrate a service-connected
traumatic brain injury. Once that is established, the department will accept
without further evidence that any of those five diseases was caused by the
T.B.I., making the veteran eligible for additional compensation and health care
for that particular disease.
The regulations include some significant restrictions
on eligibility, however. Veterans with Parkinsonism — a neurological syndrome
often resulting in tremors or muscle rigidity — as well as unprovoked seizures,
dementias and hormone deficiency diseases will be eligible only if their
traumatic brain injury was moderate or severe.
The vast majority of such injuries, about 8 in 10, are
classified as mild, with most of the rest moderate and a small number severe.
The Institute of Medicine, an independent
research unit of the National Academy of Sciences, defines a mild traumatic
brain injury as involving a loss of consciousness or memory lasting less than
30 minutes. Severe T.B.I. entails loss of consciousness or memory lasting more
than 24 hours.
The Department of Veterans Affairs said in a news
release that it based its policy on a 2008
Institute of Medicine study, which concluded that evidence linking mild
T.B.I.’s to the diseases was only “limited or suggestive.”
“We must always decide veterans’ disability claims
based on the best science available,” the secretary of veterans affairs, Eric
K. Shinseki, said in the release. “Veterans who endure health problems deserve
timely decisions based on solid evidence that ensure they receive benefits
earned through their service to the country.”
The proposed regulations also set time restrictions for
some of the illnesses. Dementias must become apparent within 15 years of a
moderate or severe traumatic brain injury. Hormone deficiency diseases must
manifest themselves within one year of a moderate or severe brain injury.
And depression must become evident within three years of a moderate or severe
brain injury or within one year of a mild one.
The limits in the coverage are likely to draw criticism
from veterans’ groups. Still, the announcement clearly pleased advocates who
had spent years pushing for expanded benefits for T.B.I.
“Veterans should be pleased with the new regulations,”
said Paul Sullivan, a leading advocate for the proposed regulations. But Mr.
Sullivan, who is director of public relations for a law firm, Bergmann &
Moore, that handles veterans’ claims, said the department must increase
training and staffing to ensure that it can handle the wave of new claims
likely to result from the new policy.
The last time the department significantly expanded
benefits — in 2010, for several diseases linked to Agent Orange, the defoliant
used in Vietnam — it prompted a tidal wave of new claims, significantly adding
to the department’s backlog. Though the department has cleared most of those
Agent Orange claims, it still has an inventory of nearly 900,000 pending
claims.
Department officials said they had no plans to hire
extra personnel to handle the new regulations, noting that they did not
anticipate that the number of additional claims would be very large.
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