Note: Please excuse me if I broke any rules by posting the following........

http://www.vawatchdog.org/08/nf08/nfJAN08/nf012508-9.htm

Get ready...here it comes!

This issue has been bubbling-under for some time...regular re-evaluations for veterans receiving VA disability compensation for mental health issues, especially PTSD.

And, Congress is ready to do it.

From a purely logical standpoint, there is no good argument against it.

The argument will be: A disability, over a period of two or three years, will not remain static. It will get better or worse. So, a re-evaluation is in order.

The only argument the veterans' service organizations can present against this is that it will cause stress to the veteran or that it has never been done before.

But, those who will push this will say that the veteran has as good a chance of getting an increase in compensation as a decrease... which, statistically, appears to be the case.

I see this as a reality in the next few years.

Then, look for some type of "mandatory" treatment for PTSD vets. It won't be called "mandatory," but it will be just that.

Currently, over half of all vets diagnosed with PTSD drop out of treatment once they receive their VA compensation. Many see this as a disturbing trend. So, some form of "mandatory" treatment is the logical next step.

For more about the Veterans' Disability Benefits Commission and Lt. Gen. Terry Scott (no relation), use the VA Watchdog search engine...click here...
http://www.yourvabenefits.org/sessearch.php?q
=veterans+disability+benefits+commission&op=ph

Story here... http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/washington/news.aspx?id=75895

Story below:

-------------------------

Veterans groups push for reform of disabled veterans benefits

by Elizabeth Gibson



WASHINGTON -- Veterans groups Thursday added their support to recommendations calling for modernization of a system that determines what benefits disabled veterans receive relative to severity of their wounds.

Now, the vets said, they want to see some action and enforcement from the government on recommendations made by the Veterans Disability Benefits Commission.

“You’ve got the riffle, squeeze the trigger,” Todd Bowers, director of government affairs for the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, said at a hearing of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.

Article continues below:

"ASK THE BUILDER" VIDEOS -- HOME IMPROVEMENT TIPS
(use left/right arrows in screen to view more videos)


Representatives from Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, Veterans of Foreign Wars and The American Legion said they like the ideas of updating the rankings that match benefits to disabilities.

They also want extra compensation beyond health care for the impact that wounds could have on quality of life of veterans.

But they expressed reservations about mandatory check-ups every two years for veterans already getting compensation.

“A lot of veterans would view these reviews as an attempt to take away their benefits,” said Gerald Manar, deputy director of the VFW’s national veterans service.

Researching for the commission, the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies recommended case by case determinations of whether veterans need follow-up exams.

However, the benefits commission felt that required reevaluations for some types of disabilities, particularly mental health issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder, would ensure that those needing regular check-ups didn’t slip through the cracks, said retired Lt. Gen. James Scott.

Scott, chairman of the commission, said, “It seems to me if you don’t reevaluate, you won’t know how the treatment is doing.”

The commission also recommended basing benefits on a sliding scale to determine the degree to which different disabilities detract from a veteran’s quality of life. The veterans groups said this was a worthy idea but would require more research to find a way to measure how much an amputation versus post-traumatic stress disorder would affect quality of life.

Several of the commission’s recommendations stretch back to previous panels meeting more than 50 years ago. The Veterans Disabilities Benefits Commission report, released last October with 113 recommendations, should be sufficient to get started and set deadlines for action, leader of veterans groups said.

Thirty-five percent of disability ratings have not been updated since 1945, according to the Institute of Medicine.

“Despite the fact that the disability system was already outdated more than five decades ago there have been no fundamental reforms,” Sen. Richard Burr R-N.C. said at the hearing. “It is a failure of a highest magnitude if we don’t provide these heroes who have sacrificed so much for their country with the benefits and services they need and deserve.”

------------------------------------------------

God help those who are not actively enrolled in some sort of counseling for their existing ilness.

Often when a veteran is awarded service connection for PTSD, they stop seeing the doctor. When the VA review comes up, usually 2 or 3 years later, the veteran often gets reduced. Why? Because if the veteran no longer needs treatment, they apparently have improved.
When people are service connected for a condition, it is because that condition affects their ability to earn a living and affects quality of life. It is an award granted, not a reward. Your link to VA Watchdog are accceptable, as Larry Scott is a contibutor to Military.com.
We are limited to the number of topics.

Hello Raider,
This is what we discussed last year and I know it is no surprise to you and me.
Makes a lot of sense though...I can't survive without therapy.......
Flash

I see it coming now. The VA will not treat my diagnosed PTSD, because they managed to say it was not service connected. Next they will disapprove PTSD because I have not been actively getting treatment from the VA! How the heck you supposed to win? Brings new meaning to "catch 22"

I have been with my Viet Nam vet since 1992. I have decided, not based solely upon my hubby, that those of you with PTSD came home missing a part of yourselves, just the same as those who returned missing limbs. The rest of us just can't see it with our eyes and most won't take the time to see it with their hearts. So it begs the question , in my mind, will they do the same for those missing limbs on the off chance that the limb could become more useful or their body become able to do more? I've seen a vet who is missing a limb be cut back to 10 % from (...it escapes me...?70%?)and about three months laater received notification of severance of disibility payments and that he was "totally rehabilitated". Yes, that is how they(VA) put it. Like we wish his limb had grown back but as much as the VA wishes it, it ain't gonna happen. they required that he go for another C&P to prove he still had the disability. Obviously rubbing the bottle didn't work...no genie popped out to effect the desired change.

In my own situation here I know that the only reason stress has become more managable is due to the tightly controlled environment we live in. Small town, few visitors since hubby became disabled and memories like elephants on the folks around here. they remember every public display of PTSD with not a clue what the real story is. Gave up our home based business after hubby had heart attack so no longer had 150 or more clients showing up all summer.....
In short, the only reason my hubby's PTSD might seem "better" is attributable directly to the severe reduction in the number of people who don't understand PTSD that he has to put up with on a day to day basis. If my hubby had to go back to work full time to support us it would be only a quick baby step from here to 1998(our worst year).

and , yes, regular meets with psychiatrist and psychologists in conjunction with meds are a must. We did learn that the hard way, got cocky and thought we had the tiger by the tail...never again.

quote:

The rest of us just can't see it with our eyes and most won't take the time to see it with their hearts.

Welcome to the forumily. A very well stated point. Thanks.

Someone may have mislead, or made an error in reference to a loss of limb being reduced to 10%, then severed due to full rehabilitation. As loss of limb has a permanent rating.

Someone may have mislead, or made an error in reference to a loss of limb being reduced to 10%, then severed due to full rehabilitation. As loss of limb has a permanent rating.

maybe now it has a permanent status but...Dave, it happened to a veteran that I know during the Reagan years when Ron tried to trickle down the VA budget. It is a true story. And YES the VA did do that to a veteran missing a limb.