PTSD Compensation and Military Service (2007) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
1 Introduction
1 Introduction
Pages 15-26
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From page 15... ...
VA'S MISSION AND STRUCTURE "To care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan." Those words -- an affirmation of the government's obligation to veterans and their families made by President Lincoln at his second inaugural address in 1865 -- constitute the mission statement of what is today called the Department of Veterans Affairs. The present-day VA provides three primary services: health care, benefits and related social services, and cemetery management.
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From page 16... ...
The 1956 Bradley Commission report on veterans' benefits observed: In the Veterans' Administration system, the law specifies that the percent age awards are to be based on average impairment of earning capacity. This recognizes that the fundamental purpose of disability compensation is to assure the disabled veteran and his family the essential means for eco nomic maintenance.
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From page 17... ...
. The response further noted that VA had conducted an economic validation of the ratings schedule in 1973 but had not adopted any changes "because of widespread dissatisfaction in Congress, the veterans community, and VA." A 2004 report commissioned by VA asserts that the Congress intended that the determination of compensation level include considerations outside of impairment of earnings capacity, stating: [Compensation]
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From page 18... ...
. These benefits and services take many forms, including disability compensation to veterans, survivor compensation to their dependants, pensions, education programs, home loan guarantees, subsidized insurance, vocational rehabilitation, and employment counseling.
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Access to hospital care and outpatient care services at VA medical center services, for example, is prioritized based on criteria set down in Public Law 104-262, the Veterans' Health Care Eligibility Reform Act of 1996. This law grants the highest priority (priority 1)
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From page 20... ...
These include access to VA outpatient dental treatment, unlimited exchange and commissary store privileges in the United States, and eligibility to receive a waiver of some premiums for VA life insurance. In some circumstances, the surviving spouses and children of such veterans may receive so-called Dependency and Indemnity Compensation, are eligible for support for some education and training, and may participate in CHAMPVA -- the Civilian Health and Medical Program of VA -- which provides reimbursement for most medical expenses: inpatient, outpatient, mental health, prescription medication, skilled nursing care, and durable medical equipment.
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From page 21... ...
compensation practices for PTSD, including examining the criteria for establishing severity of PTSD as published in the VA Schedule for Rating Disabilities; 2. the basis for assigning a specific level of compensation to specific severity levels and how changes in the frequency and intensity of symptoms affect compensation practices for PTSD; 3.
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From page 22... ...
These included the appropriateness of the criteria used for rating PTSD severity, the management of comorbidities in the C&P evaluation process, the role of the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) score in evaluating PTSD, the scientific literature regarding the length of time between the occurrence of the stressor thought to be associated with an applicant's PTSD and the appearance of symptoms, the value of standardized testing in C&P examinations, the advisability of periodic reexamination of PTSD compensation beneficiaries, and whether compensation might influence recovery and, if so, in what ways.
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The 2006 report Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Diagnosis and Assessment (IOM, 2006b) was the first of these reports to be released.
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A committee organized under the auspices of the Gulf War and Health series of congressionally mandated studies is conducting a comprehensive review, evaluation, and summary of the peer-reviewed scientific and medical literature regarding the association between deployment-related physiologic, psychologic, and psychosocial stress and long-term health effects in Gulf War veterans.9 The report on this topic will be issued in late 2007. A second effort, being conducted at the behest of the Veterans' Disability Benefits Commission,10 is examining broader issues regarding the medical evaluation of veterans for disability compensation.
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From page 25... ...
1992. The Health of Former Prisoners of War: Results from the Medical Examination Survey of Former POWs of World War II and the Korean Conflict.
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From page 26... ...
Szybala, Director, Compensation and Pension Service, to the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine Committee on VA Compensation for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, May , 00. [Online]
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