Mom fought TRICARE to Save Daughter
http://www.military.com/news/article/mom-fought-tricare-to-save-daughter.html
June 23, 2008
The Free-Lance Star
STAFFORD, Va. - Four years after she retired from the Marine Corps, Bessie Miller had to fight the same military she was a part of for three decades.
TRICARE Prime, her military insurance, had refused to pay for a procedure for her daughter, Sloan Hunter. Hunter is 18 and suffers from a rare and aggressive form of cancer.
Miller, 57, felt as if she and her daughter were getting "slapped in the face every time we turn around." After she gave the Marines 30 years of her life, she said, she expected its insurance to provide the care her daughter needed.
When it didn't, Miller went to battle.
She fought to get Hunter admitted to VCU Medical Center in Richmond, even though the hospital is not in TRICARE's network.
Then she fought TRICARE when it refused to pay for a bone-marrow transplant for her daughter.
By the time her claim reached the third and final level, Miller had contacted The Free Lance-Star and 1st District Rep. Rob Wittman, whose office lobbied for her.
In addition, Miller called the hospital and insurance company regularly to confirm that each had the needed paperwork.
TRICARE announced on Thursday that it would pay for Hunter's $110,000 operation. Officials said she qualified for care under a rare-disease regulation.
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Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Returning troops encouraged to seek mental health treatment
Returning troops encouraged to seek mental health treatment
By Senitra Horbrook, Staff Writer
(Created: Wednesday, June 25, 2008 11:06 AM CDT)
Post traumatic stress disorder often afflicts troops returning from war. The United States Army last year had the highest rate of suicide in 30 years, according to published reports.
That’s why, with the help of a half-million dollar grant, the Mental Health America of Greater Dallas has started a free program to help troops returning from Iraq or Afghanistan find appropriate mental health care.
“The main goal is to help the veterans and service members to relieve the stress issues related to post traumatic stress disorder,” said Walter Norris, one of two coordinators of “Operation Healthy Reunions.”
Mental Health America of Greater Dallas and the American Red Cross received a grant in the amount of $553,260 to support mental health care and case management for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans and family members. Assistance paying for health services over a two-year period will be provided through the Texas Resources for Iraq-Afghanistan Deployment Fund (TRIAD) of The Dallas Foundation.
“We don’t want to be like Vietnam. Many of them had PTSD and nothing was done,” Norris said.
go here for more
http://www.scntx.com/articles/2008/06/25/carrollton_leader/news/85.txt
By Senitra Horbrook, Staff Writer
(Created: Wednesday, June 25, 2008 11:06 AM CDT)
Post traumatic stress disorder often afflicts troops returning from war. The United States Army last year had the highest rate of suicide in 30 years, according to published reports.
That’s why, with the help of a half-million dollar grant, the Mental Health America of Greater Dallas has started a free program to help troops returning from Iraq or Afghanistan find appropriate mental health care.
“The main goal is to help the veterans and service members to relieve the stress issues related to post traumatic stress disorder,” said Walter Norris, one of two coordinators of “Operation Healthy Reunions.”
Mental Health America of Greater Dallas and the American Red Cross received a grant in the amount of $553,260 to support mental health care and case management for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans and family members. Assistance paying for health services over a two-year period will be provided through the Texas Resources for Iraq-Afghanistan Deployment Fund (TRIAD) of The Dallas Foundation.
“We don’t want to be like Vietnam. Many of them had PTSD and nothing was done,” Norris said.
go here for more
http://www.scntx.com/articles/2008/06/25/carrollton_leader/news/85.txt
Blood Brothers of Charlie Company
Eye Witness To The Horrors Of War
Reporter Shares First Person Account Of The Origins of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
June 25, 2008
CBS) CBS News has reported extensively on the mental and physical health of American service members fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan and the many veterans who have returned home. We have chronicled the effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, an increase in veteran suicides and a VA system grappling to deal with the big issues. We recently had the opportunity to hear first hand from a colleague who is looking to answer one fundamental question about war: what does it actually take to trigger PTSD?
Kelly Kennedy is a health reporter for Army Times. A former soldier who served in the first Gulf War and Mogadishu, Somalia, she embedded last summer as a journalist with Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry in Adhamiyah, Iraq - a neighborhood in Baghdad. Even though Kennedy says she doesn’t have post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from her trip, she says she understands how the emotional repercussions of war could develop into a full-blown disorder.
Kennedy is the author of a four-part series called Blood Brothers, a you-are-there account of the daily struggle to hunt insurgents, dodge roadside bombs-- often hitting them-and treat the physical and emotional wounds of the soldiers in the hardest hit unit since Vietnam.
"I was numb," is how Kennedy describes readjusting to life after Iraq. "I remember talking to the guys about how you have to feel things or else things are going to get worse. If you can tell the stories enough times, then the details won't have as much an effect on you as they would the first time you tell the story."
She says in the weeks following her return she was distracted, not paying attention and driving through stop signs and red lights. She says she knows from experience how easy it is for servicemen to return home and "shut down" because communicating those experiences can be too difficult and stressful.
For every one soldier, who leaves Iraq with no PTSD symptoms, there are five soldiers who suffer from PTSD or major depression - according to a study from the Rand Corporation.
Kennedy spoke with CBS News investigative producer Michael Rey and summer intern, Kim Lengle, who produced the video.
By Michael Rey
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
go here to watch this video
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/06/25/cbsnews_investigates/main4207662.shtml
Reporter Shares First Person Account Of The Origins of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
June 25, 2008
CBS) CBS News has reported extensively on the mental and physical health of American service members fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan and the many veterans who have returned home. We have chronicled the effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, an increase in veteran suicides and a VA system grappling to deal with the big issues. We recently had the opportunity to hear first hand from a colleague who is looking to answer one fundamental question about war: what does it actually take to trigger PTSD?
Kelly Kennedy is a health reporter for Army Times. A former soldier who served in the first Gulf War and Mogadishu, Somalia, she embedded last summer as a journalist with Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry in Adhamiyah, Iraq - a neighborhood in Baghdad. Even though Kennedy says she doesn’t have post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from her trip, she says she understands how the emotional repercussions of war could develop into a full-blown disorder.
Kennedy is the author of a four-part series called Blood Brothers, a you-are-there account of the daily struggle to hunt insurgents, dodge roadside bombs-- often hitting them-and treat the physical and emotional wounds of the soldiers in the hardest hit unit since Vietnam.
"I was numb," is how Kennedy describes readjusting to life after Iraq. "I remember talking to the guys about how you have to feel things or else things are going to get worse. If you can tell the stories enough times, then the details won't have as much an effect on you as they would the first time you tell the story."
She says in the weeks following her return she was distracted, not paying attention and driving through stop signs and red lights. She says she knows from experience how easy it is for servicemen to return home and "shut down" because communicating those experiences can be too difficult and stressful.
For every one soldier, who leaves Iraq with no PTSD symptoms, there are five soldiers who suffer from PTSD or major depression - according to a study from the Rand Corporation.
Kennedy spoke with CBS News investigative producer Michael Rey and summer intern, Kim Lengle, who produced the video.
By Michael Rey
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
go here to watch this video
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/06/25/cbsnews_investigates/main4207662.shtml
Dr. Sanjay Gupta looks at power of prayer
Prayer as healing source 2:41
Dr. Sanjay Gupta looks at the effects of faith and prayer on our health.
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/health/2008/06/25/gupta.power.of.prayer.cnn
Dr. Sanjay Gupta looks at the effects of faith and prayer on our health.
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/health/2008/06/25/gupta.power.of.prayer.cnn
State VA leads the world as PTSD info resource
State VA leads the world as PTSD info resource
By BOB AUDETTE, Reformer Staff
Wednesday, June 25
WHITE RIVER JUNCTION -- Post Traumatic Stress Disorder doesn't just affect soldiers and the victims of war. It also strikes the survivors of natural disasters, childhood abuse, rape, assault and genocide.
And in subtle and not-so-subtle ways, it also hurts the families and friends of those suffering from PTSD.
"Living with someone with PTSD affects families in major ways," said Matthew J. Friedman, the executive director of the National Center for PTSD at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in White River Junction.
Many family members feel they are walking on eggs around loved ones, afraid of sparking an emotional or mental breakdown, rage, depression or even suicidal ideation. Often, it's those wives, husbands and grandparents who turn to organizations such as the VA for help when sufferers fail or refuse to recognize the despair they are subjecting themselves and their families to.
Over the years, PTSD has been called by many names including nostalgia, shell shock and battle fatigue. Those suffering from the disorder were often labeled as cowards or weaklings.
The symptoms of PTSD have been recorded as far back as the 1800s, said Friedman, especially in relation to the Civil War and the Franco-Prussian War in Europe. In the late 1970s, researchers of what was then three different fields of study -- the trauma of Nazi atrocities, rape and serving in Vietnam -- realized they were all studying the same syndrome.
go here for more
http://reformer.com/ci_9688618
By BOB AUDETTE, Reformer Staff
Wednesday, June 25
WHITE RIVER JUNCTION -- Post Traumatic Stress Disorder doesn't just affect soldiers and the victims of war. It also strikes the survivors of natural disasters, childhood abuse, rape, assault and genocide.
And in subtle and not-so-subtle ways, it also hurts the families and friends of those suffering from PTSD.
"Living with someone with PTSD affects families in major ways," said Matthew J. Friedman, the executive director of the National Center for PTSD at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in White River Junction.
Many family members feel they are walking on eggs around loved ones, afraid of sparking an emotional or mental breakdown, rage, depression or even suicidal ideation. Often, it's those wives, husbands and grandparents who turn to organizations such as the VA for help when sufferers fail or refuse to recognize the despair they are subjecting themselves and their families to.
Over the years, PTSD has been called by many names including nostalgia, shell shock and battle fatigue. Those suffering from the disorder were often labeled as cowards or weaklings.
The symptoms of PTSD have been recorded as far back as the 1800s, said Friedman, especially in relation to the Civil War and the Franco-Prussian War in Europe. In the late 1970s, researchers of what was then three different fields of study -- the trauma of Nazi atrocities, rape and serving in Vietnam -- realized they were all studying the same syndrome.
go here for more
http://reformer.com/ci_9688618
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