Associated Press:
A World War II-era law established that veterans who "engaged in combat with the enemy" receive special treatment when they seek disability compensation, making it less burdensome for them to prove the injury was from their time in the service.
But members of veterans groups testified Tuesday that the law is outdated, and some veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are struggling to obtain disability benefits because they don't meet the definition.
There is particular concern, they said, that the rule interferes with disability benefits for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder whose trauma may not be documented by the military. PTSD can affect people who experience a traumatic event. Symptoms can include flashbacks and anxiety.
Untreated, PTSD doesn't go away. Yet it seems that it's only a technicality that keeps them from getting benefits and care. "The mental disorder has affected service members in non-infantry roles such as truck drivers or cooks, who on today's battlefields are vulnerable to roadside bombs or mortar attacks," the report tells us. "They often lack a combat infantry badge or other documentation to prove their battlefield experience."
Rep. John Hall (D-NY), chairman of the House Veterans Affairs subcommittee, said at a subcommittee hearing Tuesday that the law should be updated to reflect modern battlefield conditions.
"There should be a better way for VA to assist veterans suffering from PTSD to adjudicate those claims without being burdensome, stressful and adversarial," he said.
At his news conference last night, President Obama spoke about the problem as well. "Unfortunately, over the last several years, all too often the VA has been under-resourced when it comes to dealing with things like post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury, dealing with some of the backlogs in admission to VA. hospitals," he said.
