Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY -- Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki announced Monday a critical step forward in providing an easier process for Veterans seeking health care and disability compensation for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
"This nation has a solemn obligation to the men and women who have honorably served this country and suffer from the often devastating emotional wounds of war," said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. "This final regulation goes a long way to ensure that Veterans receive the benefits and services they need."
By publishing a final regulation in the Federal Register to simplify the process for a Veteran to claim service connection for PTSD, VA reduces the evidence needed if the trauma claimed by a Veteran is related to fear of hostile military or terrorist activity and is consistent with the places, types, and circumstances of the Veteran's service.
- received by VA on or after July 13, 2010;
- received before July 13, 2010 but not yet decided by a VA regional office;
- appealed to the Board of Veterans' Appeals on or after July 13, 2010;
- appealed to the Board before July 13, 2010, but not yet decided by the Board; and
- pending before VA on or after July 13, 2010, because the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims vacated a Board decision and remanded for re-adjudication.
This science-based regulation relies on evidence that concluded that a Veteran's deployment to a war zone is linked to an increased risk of PTSD.
Under the new rule, VA would not require corroboration of a stressor related to fear of hostile military or terrorist activity if a VA doctor confirms that the stressful experience recalled by a Veteran adequately supports a diagnosis of PTSD and the Veteran's symptoms are related to the claimed stressor.
Previously, claims adjudicators were required to corroborate that a non-combat Veteran actually experienced a stressor related to hostile military activity. This final rule simplifies the development that is required for these cases.
VA expects this rulemaking to decrease the time it takes VA to decide access to care and claims falling under the revised criteria. More than 400,000 Veterans currently receiving compensation benefits are service connected for PTSD. Combined with VA's shorter claims form, VA's new streamlined, science-based regulation allows for faster and more accurate decisions that also expedite access to medical care and other benefits for Veterans.
PTSD is a medically recognized anxiety disorder that can develop from seeing or experiencing an event that involves actual or threatened death or serious injury to which a person responds with intense fear, helplessness or horror, and is not uncommon among war Veterans.
For additional information, go to www.va.gov or call VA's toll free benefits number at 1-800-827-1000.
