Veterans Health Administration's Treatment of PTSD and Traumatic Brain Injury Among Recent Combat Veterans

摘要

More than 2 million service members have deployed in support of overseas contingency operations (OCO) in Iraq and Afghanistan since October 2001. Some military service members receive medical care in the combat theater for injuries or other medical conditions sustained while deployed. Other service members have combat-related medical conditions that are identified and treated after they return from war within the Department of Defense s (DoD s) health care system for active-duty personnel and within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for veterans, including deactivated reservists. VA provides health care services through the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), which treats veterans for service-connected conditions and other conditions. Some observers contend that DoD and VHA may not adequately screen, diagnose, and treat OCO service members and veterans affected by PTSD and mild TBI. In this study, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) analyzes VHA s care of OCO patients diagnosed with PTSD or TBI and compares the reported rates of occurrence of those conditions within VHA with estimates of the prevalence of those conditions in the broader population of service members who have deployed to recent overseas contingency operations. (Prevalence estimates gauge the proportion of cases of a disease or condition in a population, whether or not people have received a diagnosis from a medical professional; by comparison, the reported occurrence of conditions among the people who have been treated within VHA reflects counts of diagnoses by medical professionals.) The study also examines the costs that VHA has incurred in treating patients diagnosed with PTSD and TBI.