Friday, September 23, 2005
Obama, Durbin Amendment Ensures VA Review of 72,000 PTSD Claims Cannot Revoke or Reduce Benefits
WASHINGTON - On Thursday, the Senate passed legislation introduced by U.S. Senators Barack Obama (D-IL) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) to ensure that no veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder would see a reduction or revocation of benefits received as a result of a Department of Veterans' Affairs (VA) review of 72,000 post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) cases.
The bill would also require the VA to report the cost of the review to the Senate Appropriations Committee before proceeding. The VA has said it will review 72,000 cases in which the maximum amount of PTSD disability benefits was awarded because of the VA's belief that 2.5% of these cases are "potentially fraudulent."
"I am extremely wary of this unnecessary and costly review of settled PTSD cases" said Obama. "The veterans who received full benefits for PTSD are some of those who need our help the most, and I believe it's wrong to make them endure another stressful review. This legislation will ensure that no veteran will have his or her benefits reduced or revoked as a result of this VA review."
"Our amendment permits the VA to conduct this review if it results in a plan for staffing and funding improvements," said Durbin. "The VA cannot correct its errors by taking money away from veterans who now depend on that income. Veterans should not now - years later - be punished with a loss of income due to the late discovery by the VA of its own error."
http://obama.senate.gov/press/050923-dds/Obama, Bond Demand Pentagon Report on PTSD Cases
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Barack Obama (D-IL) and Christopher Bond (R-MO) sent the following letter to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, requesting a full accounting of service members’ psychological injuries, including Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), since October 2001. The senators also requested a detailed report on how the military monitors other psychological injuries. Recent media accounts indicate that the number of service members seeking care for PTSD from the Veterans Administration (VA) increased 70% over a 12-month period, or an increase of some 20,000 cases. In addition, reports of the total number of cases of PTSD treatment at the VA since 2001 – 50,000 cases – far exceed the number of wounded documented by the Pentagon.
In the letter, Obama and Bond request information including the total number of PTSD among active duty service members; the total number of other reported psychological injuries; the procedures and referral mechanisms for service members to seek counseling while in combat; the number of mental health staff deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan; the number of mental health staff for each major mobilization and demobilization site; the incentives in place to attract additional behavioral health specialists; and the total annual expenditure on mental health care for active duty service members.
letter:
http://obama.senate.gov/press/071023-obama_bond_dema/May 16, 2008
Obama demands VA investigation into PTSD diagnoses
Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) is demanding an investigation into reports that a supervisor at a Texas Veterans Affairs facility told staff members to refrain from diagnosing returning war veterans with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in order to reduce costs.
On Friday, Obama sent a letter to Veterans Affairs Secretary James Peake expressing his "serious concerns" over the reports and demanding an investigation.
The Washington Post reported the story on Friday, which included emails from Dr. Norma Perez suggesting to her staff members that they "refrain from giving a diagnosis of PTSD straight out," because of the increasing costs of treating the disorder.
"Simply put, Ms. Perez’s email is outrageous," Obama wrote in the letter. "As you well know, PTSD is the most prevalent mental disorder afflicting our returning ... veterans."
"In order to receive their deserved benefits, these brave men and women must endure a long and arduous process. To hear that a VA official is promoting misdiagnoses of soldiers to save money is unacceptable and is tantamount to fraud. "
"Too many veterans see the VA as a bureaucracy with the singular goal of denying services and benefits to veterans," said Obama. "This recent incident merely serves to promote that impression."
http://www.politico.com/blogs/thecrypt/0508/Obama_demands_VA_investigation_into_PTSD_diagnoses.html