August 25, 2009 - U.S. Rep. John Hall (D-Dover) today applauded the announcement by Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is proposing a new rule to make it easier for veterans suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) to receive the benefits they have earned. This new rule is another step forward toward full adoption of Hall's COMBAT PTSD Act (H.R. 952), legislation Hall wrote and passed through the full House Veterans' Affairs Committee to remove evidentiary hurdles that veterans seeking service-connection for PTSD currently face.

"I am optimistic that this new rule is going to be a giant step forward in getting veterans the benefits they have earned faster and easier," said Hall. "This rule should make major progress in clearing the VA's claims backlog. I will work with the VA and veterans during the comment period to ensure that the rule in application is as comprehensive and inclusive as my COMBAT PTSD Act."

Congressman Hall serves as Chairman of the House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs, which has jurisdiction over the VA's compensation system. Hall has been working for two years to change regulations at the VA that he says make it far too difficult for veterans seeking disability benefits. He has met with President Obama and VA Secretary Shinseki to urge them to change the way PTSD claims are handled at the VA. After Hall held several subcommittee hearings on the need for the COMBAT PTSD Act, the VA acknowledged the need for such a change and committed to drafting a proposed rule.

"Veterans currently face an adversarial process when they seek treatment and compensation from the VA," said Chairman Hall. "Our servicemen and women have been forced to 'prove' a specific stressor that triggered their PTSD, even if they have already been diagnosed. They need to track down incident reports, buddy statements, present medals, and leap other hurdles to meet the threshold that VA mandates in order to receive desperately needed compensation. Just as our military adapts and reforms its strategies in every war it fights, the VA is now adapting to assist the surviving heroes of those wars."

Hall's COMBAT PTSD Act would expand the definition of "combat with the enemy" in Title 38, USC to include active service in a theater of combat. Existing rules state that women are not allowed to serve in combat roles, so women often have a more difficult burden of proof when seeking service-connected benefits for PTSD. The COMBAT PTSD Act would essentially establish service in combat as the presumptive stressor for the incurrence of PTSD. The veteran would still need to be clinically diagnosed with PTSD, however, he or she would no longer need to "prove" the events that caused this diagnosis.

The VA published a proposed regulation yesterday in the Federal Register to make it easier for a veteran to claim service connection for PTSD by reducing the evidence needed if the stressor claimed by a veteran is related to fear of hostile military or terrorist activity. Comments on the proposed rule will be accepted over the next 60 days. A final regulation will be published after consideration of all comments received.

Under the new rule, VA would not require corroboration of a stressor related to fear of hostile military or terrorist activity if a VA psychiatrist or psychologist 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 rule would simplify the documentation that is required for these cases.

The Hudson Valley Press