McClatchy: Lawmakers seek increased mental health funding for veterans

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http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/17323201.htm

Lawmakers seek increased mental health funding for veterans
By Chris Adams
McClatchy Newspapers

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With PTSD one of the most prevalent illnesses to emerge from the Iraq war, the VA is bracing for a heavy load of new cases even as it treats huge numbers of soldiers from Vietnam and earlier wars. The VA has increased mental health spending in the past three years and said it's well-equipped to handle the coming caseload.

Congressional leaders on veterans' issues, such as Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said the Bush administration has "a history of not taking this issue seriously."

"As long as they continually deny the impact of this war, they are not going to ask for adequate inpatient and outpatient mental health spending," she said in an interview.

"I think they have not been honest with us and haven't given us a true assessment of how many people are coming home from this intense war - from multiple deployments, from tough on-the-ground combat - with serious mental health problems."

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A report from a congressional conference committee, released in mid-May, called the president's VA health budget "inadequate" and specified that additional money should go toward PTSD and other mental health treatment.

"I think Congress is showing that veterans are a priority, and that the needs are a lot greater at VA than the administration has indicated," said Joseph Violante, who monitors the budget process for Disabled American Veterans.

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