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Senate committee OKs wounded warrior bill

A comprehensive overhaul of support programs for wounded combat veterans and their families was approved June 14 by the Senate Armed Services Committee.

The bill, S 1606, would make some fundamental changes in how the government cares for troops disabled in the line of duty, with a goal of creating a new system that is fairer, more compassionate, and has less red tape. Among the key changes:

• Service members with combat-related disabilities would be eligible for three years of care from military or veterans’ facilities or from Tricare providers, and could be reimbursed for expenses if they require treatment from private doctors. Also, people still on active duty would be eligible for the full range of treatment and rehabilitative services from veterans’ hospitals, which is not currently the case. If it would help, a disabled veteran could be recalled to active-duty to receive medical care or treatment.

• The government would have to presume that anyone who has been on active duty for six months or longer was in sound physical and mental condition before their service, unless evidence to the contrary was noted when they began active duty.

• Minimum severance pay for service members too disabled to continue in uniform would be increased to at least one year of basic pay for those with combat-related injuries and six months of basic pay for other career-ending injuries.

• Anyone separated for disability since September 2001 who received severance pay rather than retired pay — those whose disabilities are rated at less than 30 percent — would automatically have their rating reviewed.

• Disability evaluations would have to be uniform across the services and between active and reserve forces.

• Family members of troops who provide help and care for service members being treated at military hospitals would be eligible for military health care and would also receive help in finding employment.

The House of Representatives approved its own wounded warrior bill, HR 1538, in late March, and later attached the package of changes to the 2008 defense authorization bill. The House and Senate plans have some similarities but also many differences, leaving uncertainty about when or if a compromise bill might be passed.

The Bush administration opposed the House bill, saying that while it supported the goals, it did not want to make sweeping changes without careful thought. Levin said his committee worked closely with the administration on its version of the bill and that he hoped there would be little or no complaints. A formal policy statement on the bill has not been issued by the White House.

Levin, who said the bill includes provisions sponsored by more than 30 senators, said the bill is a response to the “shock and dismay” over media reports about how wounded combat veterans and their families are treated.

The bill has the support of major veterans’ groups, including the Wounded Warrior Project.