Inhofe would expand private care for PTSD, TBI - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

Inhofe would expand private care for PTSD, TBI

Service members and veterans seeking diagnosis or treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injuries would be able use non-government health care facilities during a five-year pilot project proposed by Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Inhofe’s plan would require the Defense Department to pay for treatment or diagnostic testing of active-duty service members and for the Veterans Affairs Department to pay for veterans. Active-duty members could receive per diem while being treated, would be allowed to receive meals, travel and entertainment as gifts without violating any ethics bans and would be protected against any retaliation from the military for receiving care from a civilian health care provider instead of from the military.

However, the proposed legislation does not say what steps an active-duty service member would have to take to receive private care. It says a service member may be assigned on temporary duty to receive diagnosis or treatment at a location further than “reasonable commuting distance” from a permanent duty station, but not whether a command would be required to give someone unlimited time off to seek private medical care.

Inhofe introduced his proposal Monday as a potential amendment to the Senate’s version of the 2011 defense authorization bill.

Under the proposal, a civilian facility could be paid as long as any drug or device used to treat a service member or veteran is approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The treatment has to be approved by an institutional review board, must be voluntary, and the patient must show improvement.

To make this more than a normal pilot program that applies to only a few people, Inhofe’s amendment would require the Defense Department and VA to notify anyone with a service-connected injury or disability of the opportunity to receive private care at government expense.