Bill offers private TBI treatment - for some

[unhappycamper]

Bill offers private TBI treatment - for some
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Dec 13, 2007 19:33:14 EST

An Indiana lawmaker is claiming victory for getting a provision included in the 2008 defense authorization bill that could make it possible for troops and veterans with traumatic brain injury to be treated by private-sector specialists.

However, the bill does not guarantee that option, said veterans’ advocate Meredith Beck of the nonprofit Wounded Warriors Project.

The provision allows the Defense Department to determine if private care is warranted by medical necessity, which leaves room for interpretation.

“We do not know how this may or may not be used,” said Beck, national legislative director of the group.

Rep. Joe Donnelly, R-Ind., who led the fight in the House of Representatives this year to give severely brain-injured combat veterans more access to private treatment, said the provision is “a victory for the thousands of brave Americans who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan and returned home to a medical system that was not prepared to provide the best care for severe brain injuries.”


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/12/military_TBI_privatetreatment_071213w/

[Lasher]

1. I don't know how the Defense Department works but the VA already does this.

That is to say, the VA can determine if private care is warranted by medical necessity. But they rarely authorize payment for services at non-VA facilities. Seems like this legislation could be providing something that already exists.