Do Veterans' Disability Benefits Cover Mental Health Treatments?
Our veterans sacrifice a lot for their country and many of them leave the service with mental disabilities. Unfortunately, mental health problems are usually the most difficult disabilities to diagnose and treat. This is because mental disabilities are not as obvious as a missing limb. For this reason, a large number of veterans are struggling to get the care that they need. In this article, we will discuss whether your veteran benefits will cover the mental health services below.
Counseling
Veteran disability benefits cover a wide variety of counseling services to include emergency crisis counseling. According to The Military Wallet, “The Veterans Crisis Line offers veterans the opportunity to chat confidentially and anonymously with a counselor at any time either online or over the phone. You don’t even have to give your real name. With the veterans crisis line, you decide what type of help you wish to receive. You can ask for a referral to see a counselor in person, or you could choose to do nothing else at this time.” Counseling services are offered on an inpatient and outpatient basis. In addition, readjustment counseling services are also offered to veterans and their family members.
Antidepressants
Veteran benefits cover a wide range of antidepressants and other psychiatric drugs to treat veterans with mental disabilities. However, there needs to be a direct connection from military service to depression. According to Nolo, “To be eligible for the disability compensation program, the veteran needs to show that the depression is connected to his or hr military service. The following is required to prove a direct service connection: a current diagnosis of depression, evidence of an incident in service that caused the depression, and medical evidence of a link (causation) between the current depression diagnosis and the incident in service.” There are a few different categories of antidepressants that are available to veterans. The majority of prescribed antidepressants are Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs). These include Sertraline, Citalopram, Fluvoxamine, and Paroxetine. If you suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome (PTSD), your veterans benefits will cover many non-formulary drugs to treat this condition. These drugs are very important because thousands of veterans suffer from PTSD.
Addiction Recovery Treatment
The mental health of veterans is becoming more and more important to stay on top of. According to The Recovery Village, “veterans are famously neglected after returning from deployment. The trauma that is all-too-common for military service members and especially combat soldiers is harrowing. Sadly, it's not uncommon for these veterans to seek comfort wherever they can, including substances like drugs and alcohol. This behavior can lead to the need for veterans to seek help from a drug rehab or alcohol rehab facility.” Veteran Affairs (VA) facilities provide alcohol and drug dependency treatment to veterans. This includes a wide variety of therapies such as rehabilitation, medical, and social. In addition, detoxification and psychiatric services are also offered to help veterans recover from addiction.
Appealing Your Case
It is important for veterans to know that it is not uncommon for their initial claim attempt to be rejected. With that said, you do have the right to appeal any decision made by the VA. While veterans can appeal the claim on their own, it is best to seek a lawyer if possible who specializes in these cases. This will give you a better chance of having a favorable outcome. The following are the typical steps in the appeal process:
File Notice of Disagreement
The VA sends a statement of the case
The form 9 you receive must be returned
The VA has the option of sending a supplemental statement of the case
Your appeal is sent to the board
Optional hearing
The board makes a decision
If you fail to get a favorable judgment after this appeal, you can file an appeal with the Court of Appeals for Veteran Claims within 120 days of the board's decision.
In closing, there are many benefits that are available to veterans such as mental health treatment, drug rehab, alcohol, rehab, and antidepressants drugs. In cases where your claim is denied by the VA, you always have the option to appeal the decision. If you decide to appeal, seeking help from a lawyer is ideal.