Teaming with Blanche Lincoln, (D-AR), Pete Domenici, (R-NM) & Kit Bond (R-MO), Norm Coleman helped ensure that veterans wouldn’t get shortchanged. Here’s Sen. Coleman’s official statement on the legislation:

In an effort to improve mental health services for military personnel and their families, Senators Norm Coleman (R-MN), Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), Kit Bond (R-MO) and Pete Domenici (R-NM) successfully included an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2008 in response to a recent reduction in reimbursement rates received by mental health professionals who treat military servicemembers.

Specifically, the amendment gives the Secretary of Defense the flexibility to increase mental health reimbursement rates for TRICARE, the healthcare program for members of military and their families, if access to mental health services is threatened. The amendment is also cosponsored by Senator Daniel Inouye (D-HI).

“Providing our returning men and women in uniform with the best healthcare available is one of Congress’ most important responsibilities,” said Coleman. “Mental health services have become an increasingly important component of this effort as we continue to see more cases of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and other psychological difficulties confront our troops as they return from abroad. The last thing we should do right now is make it more difficult for mental health professionals to provide treatment for these troops and their families as they deal with the challenges associated with reintegration. Our amendment gives the Secretary of Defense new authority to increase reimbursement rates for mental health professionals who take care of our wounded warriors and I commend my Senate colleagues for joining this effort and passing the amendment.”

“We must take every step we can to honor the commitment of our troops,” said Lincoln. “Our brave servicemen and women returning from overseas are increasingly affected by mental health issues such as Traumatic Brain Injury and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. These brave men and women deserve the very best care a grateful nation can provide, and I believe this much-needed legislation goes a long way toward providing them access to the mental health care they need.”

“Combat stress and its impact on our troops and their families are serious problems that continue to grow. We must ensure our all-volunteer force receives the care they need to cope with long and often multiple deployments. This amendment will Increase the reimbursement rates for behavioral health specialists, which is an important step in improving our troops’ access to care,” said Bond.

“We increasingly understand that mental health issues are growing in frequency and severity, particularly with so many serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. The problem is that access to mental health services for our military personnel and their families is inadequate. Cutting reimbursement rates has only compounded the problem. This amendment takes an essential step to begin removing barriers to mental health care and treatment,” said Domenici.

Earlier this year, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) reduced its reimbursement rate for psychologists and social workers by 9 percent. Because the Department of Defense bases its reimbursement rates for TRICARE providers on the rates designated by CMS, this rate reduction led to an equivalent decrease of 9 percent in rates for mental health providers who treat servicemembers and their families. Since psychologists and social workers provide almost all of the TRICARE psychotherapy and testing services, this cut in reimbursement rates has had the detrimental effect of limiting access to mental healthcare for soldiers and their families. Many psychologists and social workers have indicated they may have to reduce their caseloads or leave the TRICARE program altogether.

TRICARE is a health care program designated for soldiers and their families. It relies on a network of civilian health care professionals to provide better access and high quality health care services.

I applaud this group for their looking out for the troops. The last thing we should do is limit their ability to get help for the problems that war causes.

Technorati Tags: Norm Coleman, Kit Bond, Pete Domenici, Blanche Lincoln, Mental Health

Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog

1. [...] Mark Silva wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptSpecifically, the amendment gives the Secretary of Defense the flexibility to increase mental health reimbursement rates for TRICARE, the healthcare program for members of military and their families, if access to mental health services … [...]

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