An education program for personnel at all levels of the military is among main recommendations of a yearlong mental health study. The task force study, ordered by Congress, called for urgent action to improve care for members of the military, under strain from simultaneous wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, officials said earlier Friday.
The military also needs to train leaders to understand that physical health and psychological health are equally important, said Vice Adm. Donald Arthur, co-chair of the task force.
"We concentrate a great deal on ... how fast can you run a mile, how many sit-ups and push-ups can you do," Arthur told reporters. "But we don't often concentrate on the psychological health of the service member."
"If you break your leg, it's not your fault; if you get cancer, it's not your fault; if you have a post-traumatic stress reaction, it's not your fault," he said.
Friday, June 15, 2007
Soldiers struggle to find therapists to take their insurance
Soldiers returning from war are finding it more difficult to get mental health treatment because military insurance is cutting payments to therapists, on top of already low reimbursement rates and a tangle of red tape.
Wait lists now extend for months to see a military doctor and it can takes weeks to find a private therapist willing to take on members of the military. The challenge appears great in rural areas, where many National Guard and Reserve troops and their families live.
Roughly one-third of returning soldiers seek out mental health counseling in their first year home. They are among the 9.1 million people covered by Tricare, a number that grew by more than 1 million since 2001.
Tricare's psychological health benefit is "hindered by fragmented rules and policies, inadequate oversight and insufficient reimbursement," the Defense Department's mental health task force said last month after reviewing the military's psychological care system.
Tricare's reimbursement rate is tied to Medicare's, which pays less than civilian employer insurance. The rate for mental health care services fell by 6.4 percent this year as part of an adjustment in reimbursements to certain specialties.
In parts of Montana, some families drive two hours to see a physician of any kind that will take Tricare, said Dorrie Hagan, state family program director for the Montana National Guard.
Wait lists now extend for months to see a military doctor and it can takes weeks to find a private therapist willing to take on members of the military. The challenge appears great in rural areas, where many National Guard and Reserve troops and their families live.
Roughly one-third of returning soldiers seek out mental health counseling in their first year home. They are among the 9.1 million people covered by Tricare, a number that grew by more than 1 million since 2001.
Tricare's psychological health benefit is "hindered by fragmented rules and policies, inadequate oversight and insufficient reimbursement," the Defense Department's mental health task force said last month after reviewing the military's psychological care system.
Tricare's reimbursement rate is tied to Medicare's, which pays less than civilian employer insurance. The rate for mental health care services fell by 6.4 percent this year as part of an adjustment in reimbursements to certain specialties.
In parts of Montana, some families drive two hours to see a physician of any kind that will take Tricare, said Dorrie Hagan, state family program director for the Montana National Guard.
War veterans lack adequate mental health care: Pentagon report
Military mental health services lack personnel and money to properly treat a growing number of soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, said a Pentagon report out Friday.
"The military system does not have enough resources, funding or personnel to adequately support the psychological health of service members and their families in peace and during conflict," concluded a year-long Pentagon mental health task force report: "An Achievable Vision."
Studies of troops three and four months after returning from Iraq and Afghanistan showed 38 percent of soldiers and 31 percent of Marines suffered psychological symptoms.
The problems increase as troops are repeatedly deployed, the study said.
A study published Monday in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health said that returning fighters are twice as likely to commit suicide as civilians.
Most at risk are soldiers seriously wounded in combat or who have suffered psychological trauma during their deployments.
To meet these needs, the authors of the new Pentagon report recommend increasing the level of care without estimating how much money or how many specialists would be needed.
"Mental health professionals are not sufficiently accessible to service members and their families," one of the report's authors, vice admiral Donald Arthur, told reporters.
For prevention, he said, "We recommend that we continue and increase the embedding of psychological health professionals into the line units that deploy."
"We recommend that there be more availability of mental health professionals for active duty and family members," Arthur said.
"The military system does not have enough resources, funding or personnel to adequately support the psychological health of service members and their families in peace and during conflict," concluded a year-long Pentagon mental health task force report: "An Achievable Vision."
Studies of troops three and four months after returning from Iraq and Afghanistan showed 38 percent of soldiers and 31 percent of Marines suffered psychological symptoms.
The problems increase as troops are repeatedly deployed, the study said.
A study published Monday in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health said that returning fighters are twice as likely to commit suicide as civilians.
Most at risk are soldiers seriously wounded in combat or who have suffered psychological trauma during their deployments.
To meet these needs, the authors of the new Pentagon report recommend increasing the level of care without estimating how much money or how many specialists would be needed.
"Mental health professionals are not sufficiently accessible to service members and their families," one of the report's authors, vice admiral Donald Arthur, told reporters.
For prevention, he said, "We recommend that we continue and increase the embedding of psychological health professionals into the line units that deploy."
"We recommend that there be more availability of mental health professionals for active duty and family members," Arthur said.
VA hospital conditions criticized... Again.
The Department of Veterans Affairs knew for months that shower heads, handrails and other fixtures posed serious suicide risks to Seattle-area psychiatric patients, but refused to fix the problems, inspectors said in a report released Friday.
Similar conditions were seen in a Tacoma psychiatric ward, but nothing was done — even though one patient tried to commit suicide in January, the report said.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., was unsatisfied with the agency's response and scheduled a flight home to personally inspect the Seattle VA hospital's progress on Friday.
Inspectors also said the procedure for determining psychiatric patients' safety was not up to par.
Disclosures in February that war veterans were not getting adequate care at Walter Reed Army Medical Center stunned the public, outraged Capitol Hill and forced three high-level Pentagon officials to step down.
A group of senators moved Wednesday to boost disability pay to those hurt in combat and improve care for brain injury in response to shabby treatment of wounded soldiers at Walter Reed.
On Thursday, officials told The Associated Press that the Army is planning to hire at least 25 percent more psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers to help a growing number of soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health needs.
Walter Reed's new commanding officer said the Army medical system has lost the trust of soldiers, their relatives and the American people but is working hard to fix its problems and provide quality care to troops.
"We are working very hard to restore confidence and trust. We are very serious about this," Maj. Gen. Eric B. Schoomaker told the AP during an interview Friday in Jacksonville, Fla., where he planned to speak at the Florida Veterans of Foreign Wars Convention.
Similar conditions were seen in a Tacoma psychiatric ward, but nothing was done — even though one patient tried to commit suicide in January, the report said.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., was unsatisfied with the agency's response and scheduled a flight home to personally inspect the Seattle VA hospital's progress on Friday.
Inspectors also said the procedure for determining psychiatric patients' safety was not up to par.
Disclosures in February that war veterans were not getting adequate care at Walter Reed Army Medical Center stunned the public, outraged Capitol Hill and forced three high-level Pentagon officials to step down.
A group of senators moved Wednesday to boost disability pay to those hurt in combat and improve care for brain injury in response to shabby treatment of wounded soldiers at Walter Reed.
On Thursday, officials told The Associated Press that the Army is planning to hire at least 25 percent more psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers to help a growing number of soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health needs.
Walter Reed's new commanding officer said the Army medical system has lost the trust of soldiers, their relatives and the American people but is working hard to fix its problems and provide quality care to troops.
"We are working very hard to restore confidence and trust. We are very serious about this," Maj. Gen. Eric B. Schoomaker told the AP during an interview Friday in Jacksonville, Fla., where he planned to speak at the Florida Veterans of Foreign Wars Convention.
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