Commission wants lifetime treatment for Veterans with PTSD!

[babylonsister]

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5j3uNjZJGHfbDAcylz9yV3dtMBIBw

Congress Urged to Pass Veterans' Bill

By HOPE YEN – 3 hours ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — Leaders of a presidential commission appealed on Wednesday for quick passage of legislation that would provide lifetime treatment to Iraq war veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Former Sen. Bob Dole, R-Kan., and former Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala said they did not want fights between Congress and the Bush administration over Iraq to overshadow the immediate needs of thousands of veterans with physical and mental injuries.

"The problems facing our injured service men and women have not gone away," said Shalala, a Democrat who served in the Clinton administration. "I implore you not to forget about those who have already sacrificed so much — our injured men and women."

"They need to be front and center in congressional debate and within the administration," she told the House Veterans' Affairs Committee.

A July report by the nine-member commission recommended changes that would increase benefits for family members caring for the wounded, create a Web site for medical records and revamp the way disability pay is awarded.

Most of the recommendations require action by the White House, Pentagon or the Veterans Affairs Department. Others leave it to Congress to make changes to raise some disability benefits, improve PTSD care and strengthen work-leave and insurance benefits for family members.

more...

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5j3uNjZJGHfbDAcylz9yV3dtMBIBw

[sandnsea]

1. I read "pets with PTSD"

oh lord now what - ran through my head.

Vets. Okay. That would be different. :)

thank you for the post.

[babylonsister]

2. LOL! I'll capitalize that 'V' and spell it out! nt

[sandnsea]

8. Oh that was totally my brainfreeze

I posted because I thought it was funny, not that I thought you needed to change your subject line in any way. Although I'm sure there are pets with PTSD and I'm sure there are people who devote their lives to helping them adjust so they can live in happy homes again.

[TygrBright]

3. Any bets on how long it will take them to sweep this one under the rug? n/t

[NancyBreen]

4. Bush will probably blackmail congress

that he won't let any legislature on this recommendation go through unless they

[flashl]

5. IIRC the Rand Corp made recomendations

to the VA earlier this year which stated that Vietnam era veterans no longer experienced PTSD. I believe that Rands' recommendation gave the green light for this administration and the VA to reassess and lower their benefits.

If that happened, I hope that this commission will restore benefits for the Vietnam era veterans.

[babylonsister]

6. What a bunch of hooey. I have a b-i-l who has severe PTSD from VN. nt

[mtnester]

7. Will this be retroactive all the way back to WWII vets?

Like my grandpa, who STILL suffers from it? That's what the occasional "nerve pill" is for as far as he is concerned.

I hope it does...there are lots of vets from previous wars who would also benefit.

[babylonsister]

9. They're talking about Iraq Vets; very sorry about your grandpa. nt

[mtnester]

10. Shame..vets of wars are vets, and PTSD affects them all

whether you were a sniper in the Pacific Theater with the SeaBees or in Baghdad.

My grandpa is OK, however, at 86 years old, he still cannot talk about the Japanese on the islands without choking up and turning the conversation off like a switch. And it has been more than 60 years.