White House Calls to Streamline Coverage of PTSD for Vets

In his weekly address on Saturday, President Obama said that the Department of Veterans Affairs will begin today to make it easier for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to receive the treatment and benefits that they need.

“Just as we have a solemn responsibility to train and equip our troops before we send them into harm’s way, we have a solemn responsibility to provide our veterans and wounded warriors with the care and benefits they’ve earned when they come home,” Obama said.

“We also know that for many of today’s troops and their families, the war doesn’t end when they come home,” Obama said. “Too many suffer from the signature injuries of today’s wars: post traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury. And, too few receive the screening and treatment they need.”

For many years, veterans with PTSD “have been stymied in receiving benefits” by requirements that they produce evidence proving a specific event caused the PTSD. Streamlining this process “is designed to help both the veterans of the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars, along with generations [of older veterans], who have served and sacrificed for the country,” he said.

Under the new regulations, veterans will no longer have to just document specific events that caused their PTSD. Instead, they will be required to show a diagnosis of PTSD that was related to service overall.

“I don’t think our troops on the battlefield should have to take notes to keep for a claims application. And, I’ve met enough veterans to know that you don’t have to engage in a firefight to endure the trauma of war,” Obama said.

Some disagreement has arisen, though, among veterans groups about requiring veterans only to use VA facilities and providers for PTSD diagnosis and treatment—and not private practitioners.

Barry Searle, director of The American Legion’s veterans affairs and rehabilitation division, said, “This requirement seems to be a step backward in an otherwise commendable move by the VA.”

“Private healthcare providers should be given the opportunity to work with veterans and diagnose those who suffer from PTSD,” he said. If the VA has concerns about the consistency of PTSD assessment standards, “it should create a certification process for private practitioners that would satisfy its requirements,” he added.