Blog

Under severe pressure to cut down spending, especially on social welfare programs, Congress is likely to look at health and pension benefits of military retirees closely in the near future. Thus far, it doesn't seem like California veterans benefits lawyers or veterans’ groups need to be too concerned. Social Security and Medicare are taking up most of lawmakers’ attention right now.

However, the fact is that health benefits and retirement pensions for veterans now cost the U.S. government approximately $100 billion a year. Traditionally, lawmakers have avoided touching veterans’ benefits, because of public hostility to measures that affect our troops. These sentiments have increased during the two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that have already taken a heavy human toll. However, there is no guarantee that these benefits will not be subjected to increased scrutiny as the administration finds itself under increased pressure to reduce spending.

This fall, a bipartisan joint congressional committee will issue recommendations to reduce deficits, and if these recommendations are adopted by Congress, the Department of Defense will find itself in the position of having to look for ways to save as much as $900 billion over the next 10 years. If that happens, the Department of Defense will likely be left with no option but to attack health and pension benefits for military retirees. The Department of Defense has already indicated that it is concerned about this possibility.

 Fortunately, there is likely to be much opposition to any plans to reduce health and retirement benefits for veterans. After all, the prospect of benefits is one of the motivating factors for many of our veterans, who sacrifice some of the best years of their lives to fight for our freedom. However, troops are already being withdrawn from Iraq, and as withdrawal continues, troop requirements will reduce, and the need to dangle retirement benefits as a carrot before applicants, could also drop. In short, there may be fewer obstacles to cutting health and pension benefits for veterans in the future.

An Iraq veteran and a television actor, both double amputees, are lobbying for stronger funding for biomedical research. Lt. Col. Tim Karcher lost both of his legs while in combat in Afghanistan in 2009. Robert David Hall is a popular actor, best known for his turn on the show, CSI. Both of them last week launched an education and media campaign that is aimed at raising public awareness about the need for greater funding for biomedical research.

California veterans’ benefits lawyers have been concerned to find that public support for funding for biomedics research has been declining in recent years. According to a survey, support for basic biomedics research has dropped to 55.7%. During the Vietnam War, support for research in these areas was more than 70%. It's likely that the declining public support is due to growing financial concerns and restricted budgets.

However, California veterans’ benefits lawyers believe that it's important to balance budgets without compromising veterans’ interests. Many veterans return from combat with amputated limbs, and require prosthetic devices. Over the past few years, there have been many advancements in prosthetics and biomedical research, and Karcher himself has one of the most advanced prosthetics devices. The device he uses is especially designed for above-the-knee amputees. It comes with a five-day battery life, making it more convenient to use. It also allows the person to use his prosthetic for previously unavailable functions, like climbing the stairs and running. Thus, the device greatly enhances a person's quality of life. The device costs between $80,000 and $100,000.

It's important to continue research into biomedics and prosthetics, to advance the quality of life of veterans who return injured from combat.

There is now increasing acceptance of the role that post-traumatic stress disorder plays in disrupting a person's mental equilibrium. In fact, around the country, there is also increasing evidence that courts and prosecutors are more likely to consider lower or alternate sentences for veterans convicted of violent crime.

A case in points is a veteran in North Carolina who is accused of the murder of his infant daughter. Joshua Stepp, a former Army infantryman is facing first degree murder charges in the death of his infant daughter who was suffocated to death. His lawyers allege that this crime does not fit the criteria for first degree murder because it was not premeditated. Stepp allegedly suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, and therefore was not mentally capable of the premeditation that first degree murder charges demand. His lawyers are calling for lowered second degree murder charges instead.

After close to a decade of combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, many veterans now find greater acceptance of the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, especially when these result in violent crimes. Service members are some of the most frequent victims of post-traumatic stress disorder, and in the past, it was made worse by the lack of awareness and acceptance of the disorder. Symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder include a sense of social isolation and alienation. Additionally, persons who suffer from this disorder may also suffer from depression, guilt, nightmares and flashbacks.

Post-traumatic stress disorder affects thousands of veterans returning from combat. California veterans’ disability benefits lawyers have been pleased to see that there is increasing understanding about the severity of some of these symptoms. In 2005, approximately 200,000 veterans around the country were receiving disability benefits for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder. There was an increase of 80% in the number of veterans receiving disability benefits for PTSD treatment, from 2000. In 2005, veterans disability benefits for PTSD treatment cost $4.3 billion. That number has likely increased now.

The large number of veterans returning from combat duty in Iraq and Afghanistan has caused the U.S. military to invest heavily in brain injury treatment research. The Department of Defense is now investigating the use of pressurized oxygen chambers in order to treat a brain injury. The theory is that prolonged exposure to pure oxygen will help treat the injury. These are the same chambers used to treat decompression sickness involving divers.

According to researchers who spoke to the Associated Press, they don't know whether the pressurized chambers will help, but believe that this is a theory worth following.

The incidence of traumatic brain injury among veterans has expanded to epidemic proportions. In fact, the rates of brain injury among veterans is likely far higher than injuries affecting football players, and yet, to California veterans benefits lawyers, there seems to be far more attention devoted to combating brain injuries among NFL players.

Soldiers in the 21st century may be injured from improvised explosive devices that set off multiple shock waves. The shockwaves alone may be strong enough to cause an injury. They may be no other physical injuries, but a veteran may have suffered a potentially devastating brain injury. Besides improvised explosive devices, rocket propelled grenades are also blamed for the high numbers of brain injuries affecting veterans.

Over the past decade, the military has begun to take brain injury among veterans more seriously. The military now requires a veteran with a brain injury to be treated immediately by medical personnel who are specially trained to treat traumatic brain injury. In the past, these people were evacuated to the nearest military hospital, wasting precious minutes in the process. The extent and severity of a brain injury can be minimized if emergency treatment begins immediately to reduce the size of blood clots and limit damage.

According to a new study, veterans returning from combat duty in Iraq and Afghanistan have a much higher risk of suffering from depression and relationship stresses.

The study found that there are two aspects of relationship stresses among vets. The first was uncertainty over the relationship upon returning back home, and the second was increased stress between partners as the veteran began to settle down reestablish a daily routine.

What's worse is that many veterans are not prepared for these challenges when they return home. Many of them expect to be able to pick up their relationships where they left, and that, more often than not, does not happen. The researchers believe that veterans need to recognize relationship uncertainty, and should be counseled to address these issues head-on, instead of avoiding them.

California veterans’ benefits lawyers find that relationship stresses and depressive symptoms are intimately linked among veterans. A person who suffers from depressive symptoms is more likely to be dissatisfied, impacting his or her interpersonal relationships. Additionally, people who suffer from depressive symptoms are much more likely to question the certainty of their relationships. It's also not surprising that returning veterans feel antagonized by interference from their partner. These partners have spent months getting used a certain kind of routine without the veteran, and it's not easy to give up control.

The researchers did not find that relationship stresses were different for those who have been through multiple deployments. Additionally, the researchers found that these depressive symptoms and stresses affecting service members become even worse as the vet begins to settle into his new life.

California veterans’ benefits lawyers have an explanation for this. This could merely be an end of the initial “honeymoon phase” immediately after a veteran returns from combat. For veterans and their spouses or partners, it can be a major disillusionment to find that the honeymoon period dissipates rather quickly.

President Obama made several promises last week that were guaranteed to make veterans groups and California veteran disability benefit lawyers very happy. Speaking to thousands of members of the American Legion, the president promised that balancing the budget would not be achieved by cutting veterans unemployment and health benefits.

The president was speaking to delegates at the American Legion's 93rd National Convention in Minnesota, and not surprisingly to many of the vets in the audience, unemployment and health benefits were at the forefront of his agenda. The president promised that he would look into the speeding up of veterans benefit claims, and make documentation for veterans’ benefits available electronically. The president also said that he would protect Veterans Administration services from budget cuts.

President Obama also spoke of equipping Veterans Affairs centers to better treat veterans returning home from combat with illnesses caused by wars. One of the biggest health concerns facing veterans returning from duty in Iraq and Afghanistan has been post traumatic stress disorder. The Department of Veterans Affairs has much work to do in ensuring that these veterans receive the medical care and help they need.

The President's sentiments were also echoed by House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi. She assured delegates at the convention that the interests of veterans would be protected when the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction meets in the near future to discuss balancing the budget. The committee is looking at ways to cut more than $1 trillion from the federal budget, and California veteran benefits lawyers have been very concerned that veteran health services will be impacted.

A number of incidents of rape involving female veterans in psychiatric treatment facilities have alerted California veteran’s benefits lawyers and lawmakers to the need for strong action. Veterans Affairs representatives informed a congressional panel earlier this week that the agency is currently making improvements to better protect patients inside these facilities from assaults.

According to a review by the Government Accountability Office, between January 2007 and July 2010, there were at least 67 reports of alleged rapes at a VA intreatment psychiatric ward residential living facilities. In all these incidents, the accused were veterans and staff members. Most of the victims were female.

The Government Accountability Office report found that many of these facilities depended on patients to coming forward to identify themselves as offenders. This often didn't happen, and as a result, other patients were placed in danger.

Besides, the Government Accountability Office also found other conditions at the facilities that increased the risk of sexual assault and rape. For instance, it found that many of the cameras in the facilities were not working. Also, the procedures in place to report crimes were simply ineffective. Whenever such crimes occur, they're often not reported to the right authorities in the system.
 
According to the Government Accountability Office, part of the problem is that the agency has very fluid definitions of what constitutes assault. Besides, there are no clear rules for reporting, and as a result, many assaults are not reported to the Department of Veterans Affairs.
 
It is an example of the kind of VA incompetence that California VA disability lawyers often find. The Department of Veterans Affairs has been ineffective in providing the kind of psychiatric care that our men and women receive after they return from duty.