Schumer backs Hall's bill for PTSD Veterans

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 18, 2009

SCHUMER INTRODUCES GROUNDBREAKING VETERAN'S HEALTH BILL; WILL AFFECT OVER 150,000 IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN VETERANS WHO HAVE YET TO BE TREATED FOR POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER


Study Finds One In Five Of Our Nation's Veterans Suffer From PTSD And Over Half Of Current Iraq And Afghanistan Soldiers Afflicted Have Gone Without Treatment

Stringent VA Policies Require Vets to Tie Post Traumatic Stress Disorder To Specific Incident Before Receiving Treatment

Schumer Introduces Legislation That Will Free Vets From Onerous "Burden Of Proof" Regulations, Help Treat the 1.8 Million Service Members Deployed Since 2001


U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer today announced that he is introducing legislation that will lower the burdensome threshold that veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars have to meet to receive treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Current regulations set by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) require that veterans pinpoint the stressor that triggered their PTSD, even if they have already been diagnosed. Stringent policies require that veterans track down incident reports, buddy statements, present medals, and overcome other hurdles to meet the threshold that VA mandates in order to receive desperately needed treatment and support. Schumer’s legislation will help simplify the process for the hundreds of thousands of veterans needing treatment. The legislation will apply to veterans of all previous United States Conflicts. Companion legislation has been introduced in the House of Representatives by Congressman John Hall.

“We need to remove the barriers that prevent our soldiers and veterans from receiving care,” said Schumer. “In an era where mental injuries are stigmatized and in a war where danger can strike in any place, it is clear that the current VA regulations are in need of change. This legislation will help our brave men and women access the treatment and support they need.”

Currently, a veteran diagnosed with PTSD must prove that the stressor triggering the PTSD occurred during “combat with the enemy”. This means that the service member must prove that the trigger for PTSD occurred during personal participation in a fight with a military adversary or hostile unit force in order to receive care from the Veteran’s Health Administration. If the veteran cannot meet this burden of proof, or suffers from PTSD triggered by service in a combat zone but not in direct combat with the enemy, they must pay for their own care out-of-pocket or through private insurance. This stringent requirement prevents many service members from receiving care because their injuries were sustained during service in a combat zone but not during direct engagement with the enemy. This is especially true for women, who are prohibited from serving in combat roles and therefore have a difficult time meeting the burden of proof.

The stringent regulations and burden-of-proof requirements present a significant barrier to treatment for service members suffering from mental health disorders that already carry a great stigma. Since October 2001, about 1.8 million U.S. troops nationally, and 66,000 from Upstate New York, have deployed to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, with many exposed to prolonged periods of combat-related stress or traumatic events. Early evidence suggests that the psychological toll of the deployments may be disproportionately high compared with physical injuries. According to a study from the RAND corporation, the nation's largest independent health policy research program, nearly 20 percent of military service members who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan report symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)or major depression, and only half of those afflicted have sought treatment. Among those who do seek help for PTSD or major depression, only about half receive treatment because of the many barriers preventing them from getting the treatment and support they need.

Because of these stringent regulations, the disability claims backlog at the VA tops 800,000, a great majority of which are Vietnam Veterans seeking compensation for PTSD. These facts are a clear indication that current regulations at the VA are too strict for veterans, past and present, who are seeking disability benefits. In an effort to ensure that veterans suffering from PTSD have greater access to the critical care they need, Senator Schumer today introduced legislation that lowers the burdensome threshold that veterans have to meet to receive compensation.

The Compensation Owed for Mental Health Based on Activities in Theater Act, or the COMBAT PTSD Act, would expand the definition of ‘combat with the enemy” in Title 38, USC to include active service in a theater of combat. This would essentially establish service in combat as the presumptive stressor for the incurrence of PTSD. The veteran would still need to be clinically diagnosed with PTSD, but, he or she would no longer need to “prove” that a specific event caused this diagnosis or that the specific trigger was an event during direct combat with the enemy.

According to the Rand study, unless treated, PTSD, depression, and TBI can have far-reaching and damaging consequences. Individuals afflicted with these conditions face higher risks for other psychological problems and for attempting suicide. They have higher rates of unhealthy behaviors — such as smoking, overeating, and unsafe sex — and higher rates of physical health problems and mortality. Individuals with these conditions also tend to miss more work or report being less productive. These conditions can impair relationships, disrupt marriages, aggravate the difficulties of parenting, and cause problems in children that may extend the consequences of combat trauma across generations. There is also a possible link between these conditions and homelessness. The damaging consequences from lack of treatment or under-treatment suggest that those afflicted, as well as society at large, stand to gain substantially if more have access to effective care.

The COMBAT PTSD Act would ensure that more service members afflicted with PTSD would be able to receive treatment. This is especially relevant in New York. In total, New York has the fourth largest veteran population in the country and has sent over 70,000 troops to Iraq and Afghanistan. There are almost 12,000 New York service members currently deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan theatres of combat.

Here is how the numbers break down across the state:

· There are 82,250 veterans living in the Capital Region, approximately 5,700 of which served in Iraq or Afghanistan. There are 900 Capital Region service members currently deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
· There are 79,200 veterans living in Central New York, approximately 5,500 of which served in Iraq or Afghanistan. There are 900 Central New York service members currently deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
· There are 140,810 veterans living in the Hudson Valley, approximately 9,800 of which served in Iraq or Afghanistan. There are 1,600 Hudson Valley service members currently deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
· There are 386,670 veterans living in the North Country, approximately 26,900 of which served in Iraq or Afghanistan. There are 4,400 North Country service members currently deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
· There are 84,600 veterans living in the Rochester-Finger Lakes Region, approximately 5,900 of which served in Iraq or Afghanistan. There are 960 Rochester-Finger Lakes Region service members currently deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
· There are 57,030 veterans living in the Southern Tier, approximately 4,000 of which served in Iraq or Afghanistan. There are 650 Southern Tier service members currently deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
· There are 125,270 veterans living in the Western New York, approximately 8,700 of which served in Iraq or Afghanistan. There are 1,400 Western New York service members currently deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In addition to the obvious obligations we have to our veterans, this legislation makes fiscal sense. According to the study, if 50 percent of those needing care for PTSD and depression received treatment and all care was evidence-based, this larger investment in treatment would result in cost savings overall. If 100 percent of those needing care for PTSD and depression received treatment and all care was evidence-based, there would be even larger cost savings. The cost of depression, PTSD, or co-morbid PTSD and depression could be reduced by as much as $1.7 billion, or $1,063 per returning veteran. These savings come from increases in productivity, as well as from reductions in the expected number of suicides.
Given these estimates, evidence-based treatment for PTSD and major depression would pay for itself within two years. No reliable data are available on the costs related to substance abuse, homelessness, family strain, and other indirect consequences of mental health conditions. If these costs were included, savings resulting from effective treatment would be higher, according to the study.
Senator Schumer introduced the COMBAT PTSD Act in the Senate today. The legislation has been introduced in the House of Representatives by Congressman John Hall. The legislation has been endorsed by the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), The American Legion, Veterans for Common Sense (VCS), National Guard Association of the US (NGAUS), National Legal Veterans Services Program (NVLSP), Ex Prisoners of War, and Disabled American Veterans (DAV).

http://schumer.senate.gov/new_website/record.cfm?id=309985

This version: Referred in Senate. This is the text of the bill after moving from the House to the Senate before being considered by Senate committees. This is the latest version of the bill available on this website.

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h110-5892
Text:
Summary Full Text
Cost:
less than $1 per American in 2009.
This is computed from a Congressional Budget Office report, merely by dividing the estimated cost of $60,000,000 by the U.S. population. The figure is extracted from the report automatically and may be incorrect. See the report for details.
Status:
Introduced
Apr 24, 2008
Reported by Committee
Apr 30, 2008
Passed House
Jul 30, 2008



This bill never became law. This bill was proposed in a previous session of Congress. Sessions of Congress last two years, and at the end of each session all proposed bills and resolutions that haven't passed are cleared from the books. Members often reintroduce bills that did not come up for debate under a new number in the next session.
Last Action:
Jul 31, 2008: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
Related:
See the Related Legislation page for other bills related to this one and a list of subject terms that have been applied to this bill. Sometimes the text of one bill or resolution is incorporated into another, and in those cases the original bill or resolution, as it would appear here, would seem to be abandoned.
Rep. John Hall [D-NY]show cosponsors (78)
Cosponsors [as of 2009-01-09]
Rep. Grace Napolitano [D-CA]
Rep. Gwen Moore [D-WI]
Del. Madeleine Bordallo [D-GU]
Rep. Bob Filner [D-CA]
Del. Eni Faleomavaega [D-AS]
Rep. John Salazar [D-CO]
Rep. Timothy Bishop [D-NY]
Rep. Zachary Space [D-OH]
Del. Donna Christensen [D-VI]
Rep. Barton Gordon [D-TN]
Rep. James McGovern [D-MA]
Rep. John Tierney [D-MA]
Rep. John Conyers [D-MI]
Rep. Henry Cuellar [D-TX]
Rep. Raul Grijalva [D-AZ]
Rep. William Delahunt [D-MA]
Rep. Michael Arcuri [D-NY]
Rep. Eliot Engel [D-NY]
Rep. Michael Thompson [D-CA]
Rep. Nita Lowey [D-NY]
Rep. Charles Rangel [D-NY]
Rep. Robert Wexler [D-FL]
Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin [D-SD]
Rep. Robert Goodlatte [R-VA]
Rep. Keith Ellison [D-MN]
Rep. Nancy Boyda [D-KS]
Rep. Jason Altmire [D-PA]
Rep. Tim Murphy [R-PA]
Rep. Charles Gonzalez [D-TX]
Rep. Dale Kildee [D-MI]
Rep. James McDermott [D-WA]
Rep. Ron Klein [D-FL]
Rep. Collin Peterson [D-MN]
Rep. Thomas Allen [D-ME]
Rep. Zoe Lofgren [D-CA]
Rep. Ciro Rodriguez [D-TX]
Rep. Jim Gerlach [R-PA]
Rep. Jerry Costello [D-IL]
Rep. Harry Mitchell [D-AZ]
Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand [D-NY]
Rep. Joe Courtney [D-CT]
Rep. Joe Donnelly [D-IN]
Rep. Henry Johnson [D-GA]
Rep. Melissa Bean [D-IL]
Rep. Joseph Crowley [D-NY]
Rep. Betty McCollum [D-MN]
Rep. Lynn Woolsey [D-CA]
Rep. Barney Frank [D-MA]
Rep. Steve Kagen [D-WI]
Rep. Phil Hare [D-IL]
Rep. Anthony Weiner [D-NY]
Rep. Maurice Hinchey [D-NY]
Rep. Carolyn Kilpatrick [D-MI]
Rep. Janice Schakowsky [D-IL]
Rep. José Serrano [D-NY]
Rep. Peter Welch [D-VT]
Rep. Virgil Goode [R-VA]
Rep. William Clay [D-MO]
Rep. Russ Carnahan [D-MO]
Rep. Mike McIntyre [D-NC]
Rep. Bob Etheridge [D-NC]
Rep. Christopher Van Hollen [D-MD]
Rep. Joe Baca [D-CA]
Rep. Betty Sutton [D-OH]
Rep. William Jefferson [D-LA]
Rep. Bill Foster [D-IL]
Rep. Robert Brady [D-PA]
Rep. Paul Hodes [D-NH]
Rep. John Murtha [D-PA]
Rep. Elijah Cummings [D-MD]
Rep. Earl Blumenauer [D-OR]
Rep. John Lewis [D-GA]
Rep. Patrick Kennedy [D-RI]
Rep. Brad Ellsworth [D-IN]
Rep. Mike Ross [D-AR]
Rep. Rubén Hinojosa [D-TX]
Rep. Peter DeFazio [D-OR]
Rep. Doug Lamborn [R-CO]