Senators Support Cognitive Rehabilitation for Military

by Larry
(Arkansas)

In a letter dated August 4, 2008, Senators Barack Obama, Evan Bayh, Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, Ken Salazar, Edward Kennedy, Joe Lieberman, Jeff Bingaman, Blanche Lincoln and Claire McCaskill urged Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to add cognitive rehabilitation therapies to the TRICARE medical plan that covers the United States military.

The letter states, "A recent study conducted by the Rand Corporation found that 320,000 troops, or 19 percent of all service members, returning from Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom may have experienced a traumatic brain injury (TBI) during deployment."

The Senators expressed concern, "that at a time when TBI is recognized as the signature wound of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, one of the most widely accepted and critical rehabilitative treatments for this injury, known as cognitive rehabilitation therapy, is excluded by the military's TRICARE health insurance program."

Recognizing that best care for cognitive issues is available only from private providers, the group recommended that barriers to outside treatment be removed.

"According to figures provided by your office, 19,922 service members were medically retired with serious injuries in 2007 alone," the letter stated.

"Individuals who have incurred a traumatic brain injury while serving their country deserve nothing less than the appropriate level of care..."

"Therefore, we urge the Department of Defense to provide official TRICARE coverage of cognitive rehabilitation therapies, so that all returning service personnel can benefit from the best brain injury care this country has to offer."

Editor's Note: More information about Cognitive Rehabilitation can be found on this site at http://www.brain-injury-online.com/cognitive-rehabiliation.html or by clicking this link Cognitive Rehabilitation.