More funds for vets with brain trauma
The government is more than quadrupling monthly payments to some veterans suffering brain injuries, as the number of such war wounds mounts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The new compensation is based on the assessment that even some troops who have the mildest form of traumatic brain injury could end up with chronic headaches, memory loss, anxiety or other symptoms that will hurt their chances of getting a job or job advancement -- thus reducing their lifetime earnings by 40 percent.
In a regulation announced Tuesday by the Department of Veterans Affairs, officials changed the way they evaluate the injuries. They now judge a person to be 40 percent disabled in such cses rather than 10 percent. The lower rating was set by a 1961 regulation. The change means that an unmarried veteran, who now recieves $117 monthly in compensation, could recieve as much as $512. Troops with spouses and children also would get more money.
Mild traumatic brain injury is basically a form of concussion that results from severe shaking of the brain after a blast. It can cause blurred vision, irritability and other problems.
The change takes effect in 30 days, and those recieving compensation under the old system can have thier cases reviewed.
Roughly 1.7 million American troops have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, and a RAND Corp. study estimated early this year that up to 320,000 may have suffered a traumatic brain injury.
