It is a travesty for our government to once again ignore the responsibility we have to provide care for those serving our nation.  We owe the vets our gratitude, respect and the benefits that they were promised when they signed onto serve.  

I do not know military regulations but am familiar with workers' compensation laws and coverage.  In many states, the workers comp laws require an employer (and their insurer) to provide coverage for aggravations of pre-existing conditions.  We do receive claims for PTSD and other mental conditions.  Is there anything similar to this in the armed forces regulations?  What I am wondering is even if they can successfully assert a person has a personality disorder, if they made it through all of the screening processes and go into combat, why shouldn't that be accepted?  

I can't believe they are so short sighted with this issue.  The idea that this will save money is ridiculous.  It might not come out of the same budget but there will be a cost to society and the taxpayers at some point.  The sooner people receive the assistance and treatment they need, the lower the cost and we know that to be the case.  

by standingup on Wed Jul 25, 2007 at 01:56:51 PM EST

Is there a usual timeline for these types of class action lawsuits?

When would such a case be expected to have its first day in court? And once it arrives at that point, and receives the OK to move forward, how how long would such a lawsuit be expected to take before a decision is made generally?

Also, I'm not sure if you can comment on this, but I'm also curious how evidence and testimony will be given at trial. Would veterans be expected to testify publicly?
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by ilona on Wed Jul 25, 2007 at 02:23:55 PM EST

Joe recently visited Iraq and talked about walking around the Green Zone in a flak jacket.  But what really stunned him was, bad paraphrase here, a man who walked into his office last week with his orders for a fourth deployment in one hand and a ziplock bag full of prescription medicines for PTSD, anxiety, heart palpations etc. in the other.  

My question, does your suit address the damage done through the multiple deployments so that we can stop their use?

by Cho on Wed Jul 25, 2007 at 02:24:26 PM EST

12. Veterans with service-connected disabilities, including PTSD, are statutorily entitled to hospital care and medical services. These veterans, as well as their survivors, are also entitled to monetary benefits for service-connected disabilities or deaths. The process for a veteran to establish his or her right to these benefits is set forth in the Veterans Judicial Review Act...

We here at ePluribus Media have been tracking some of the tragic case of troops that have been slipping through the cracks in the ePluribus Media PTSD Timeline. There are far too many cases that we've discovered where veterans have gone into receive care from the VA, only to be given a number. Some have committed suicide before their first appointment date arrived.

Can you explain the statutory rights veterans (and the rest of us) have to receiving health care in a timely fashion?

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by ilona on Wed Jul 25, 2007 at 02:44:00 PM EST

The VA system is obviously over-taxed; my understanding is that there hasn't been much of an update in the way that it processes claims or makes its determinations (as to what percentage disability to give give a certain type of injury).

Harvard economist Linda Bilmes, for example, has suggested that in order to provide some immediate relief the VA should consider approving all claims for a certain period of time (6 mo. to a year) in order that we can keep veterans from slipping into bankruptcy, etc. while they wait for the backlog to be eased:

President Bush is now talking about spending more money on recruiting in order to boost the size of the Army and deploy more troops to Iraq. But what about taking care of those soldiers when they return home? The VA's solution is to hire an additional 1,000 claims adjudicators to cut the backlog.

A better idea would be to stop examining each application and instead automatically accept all disability claims, then audit a sample (like the IRS does for tax filings) to weed out fraud. Or at a minimum, simple claims should be fast-tracked and settled within 60 days. We should also place more counselors and more claims experts in the Vet Centers and harmonize recordkeeping so veterans can move seamlessly from the Army's payroll into VA hospitals and outpatient care.

Does the lawsuit offer suggestions in how to fix the system? If not, would you care to offer any of your own personal ideas on this, if you could?

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by ilona on Wed Jul 25, 2007 at 02:57:21 PM EST

These days recruiters come to high schools and tell young kids a bunch of lies and even abuse the young women who volunteer to serve, while the hard-won rights of veterans are cutback. This kind of chiselling is typical of the present administration, and goes part and parcel with Bush's "philosophical" disinclination to adequately fund medical care for needy children whose parents are considered to be above the poverty line.

I think Michael Moore's powerful point in his new film "Sicko" is that the disgraceful failure of the U.S. medical system across the board reflects the governing class's contempt for the average--not to speak of the poor--American. Contempt for the individual, but not for power and the almighty buck says it all.

If they have no respect for the the worth of the young men and women whom they sent to fight an unwinnable war are of no concern to them, It really says it all.

by carol white on Wed Jul 25, 2007 at 03:50:54 PM EST