Veterans' Commission Chair Discusses Recommendations for Disability System Overhaul

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Friday, January 25, 2008

Capitol Hill Watch
Veterans' Commission Chair Discusses Recommendations for Disability System Overhaul
Retired Lt. Gen. James Terry Scott, chair of the Veterans' Disability Benefits Commission, on Thursday testified before the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee about the commission's recommendations for overhauling the Department of Veterans Affairs' disability benefits system, CQ Today reports. The commission's recommendations included altering disability payments to account for quality of life and developing new criteria for determining disability payments for veterans with traumatic brain injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder. According to CQ Today, "It is unclear whether [VA] has authority under current law to overhaul its disability compensation system."

Several of the commission's recommendations differed from the advice of the Institute of Medicine and the Center for Naval Analysis, in particular a recommendation that veterans with PTSD receive a medical re-evaluation "every two or three years." Scott said mental illnesses require "a lot more careful monitoring" in many cases. He added that IOM "didn't think there should be a template that said every two to three years, everyone should be looked at" but that "if we don't tell (veterans) to do it on a certain interval, they might not do it at all."

Some veterans' groups expressed concern that the routine mental health evaluations could lead to reductions in veterans' benefits, CQ Today reports. American Legion Deputy Director Steve Smithson said if the evaluation recommendation is approved and "it appears it's solely being done to decrease benefits, it's going to hamper benefits, and have a negative impact."

The commission also has recommended temporarily increasing veterans' benefits by up to 25% on a sliding scale to account for quality of life. The quality-of-life benefits could cost up to $3 billion, Scott has estimated (Yoest, CQ Today, 1/24).

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