Posted by: Kevin Jacobsen
kjacobsen@northlandsnewscenter.com
For troops fighting on the front lines of Iraq and Afghanistan, the real battle sometimes begins in earnest when they've made it home. Now red tape has been removed from benefits helping troops suffering PTSD get on the road to recovery more quickly.
"They'll find their claims will go through much quicker," said John Hall, an outreach worker with the VA. "The advocates will be able to move their claims along quite a bit quicker and come to a more positive resolution."
Hall says Veterans will no longer have to prove they experience a traumatic event in order to receive benefits.
"Before they had to prove exposure to a traumatic event in a combat zone," Hall said. "It wasn't enough to just be in the combat zone. You had to show you were hit by an IED, you were in a fire fight, or you were taking motor rounds back into the Vietnam Days."
Hall says to receive benefits now, Veterans just need to be diagnosed by a VA doctor. This streamlined system, he says, gives Vets more trust in the system and for some, a second chance.
"Sometimes when they file a claim and it doesn't go well for them, they get mad at the whole system, with the healthcare system as well as their claims system," Hall said.
A new plan helping our war heroes get on the path to recovery and winning the war within.
According to the RAND Corporation, one in five Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans suffer from PTSD or Major Depression.
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