COVER Act would help VA adopt newer treatments for TBI/PTSD
The Legion's Louis Celli testified before Congress April 23. (File photo)

COVER Act would help VA adopt newer treatments for TBI/PTSD

An American Legion-supported bill, the Creating Our Veterans Expedited Recovery (COVER) Act, would establish a commission to explore possibilities for incorporating complementary and alternative medicine treatment models into VA medical facilities nationwide.

In February 2014, the Legion surveyed more than 3,000 veterans affected by traumatic brain injury (TBI) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), asking questions about the effectiveness of treatments provided by VA and DoD. Fifty-nine percent of the respondents reported they felt no improvement, or felt even worse.

The survey also found that 30 percent of respondents terminated their treatments or therapies before completing them; some reported taking up to 10 different medications.

The Legion conducted a TBI/PTSD symposium in Washington last June, which provided a forum for experts nationwide to share information about many successful treatment models that used complementary and alternative medicine.

The COVER Act was one of several pending bills considered at an April 23 hearing by the House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Health.

“The American Legion strongly supports the use of complementary and alternative medicines,” Louis Celli, director of the Legion’s Veterans Affairs & Rehabilitation Division, told the subcommittee, “and supports the funding necessary to assist veterans suffering with PTSD and TBI with … treatments that allow our returning veterans to actively participate in their own recovery programs, without unnecessary sedation or over-medication.”

Another Legion-supported House bill would expand reproductive treatments available to veterans and servicemembers by making all such services equally accessible in DoD and VA.

“According to a study of veterans who served during OIF and OEF, 15 percent of women and nearly 14 percent of men reported that they had experienced infertility,” Celli said. Thousands of men and women who served in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars were “returning home with physical and/or psychological wounds, resulting in a variety of fertility and reproductive health issues.”

The Legion’s written testimony stated “there seems to be little support (at VA and DoD), either through counseling or medical intervention, to offer a young veteran who has lost his/her ability to procreate due to lack of testosterone. Unfortunately, many veterans with TBI are also on hypertension medications, and adding sexual performance medications can represent a serious health risk. This can also create a loss of intimacy in relationships, exacerbating psychological disorders such as PTSD and depression. Ultimately, it affects the self-esteem of both veteran and spouse.”

“That’s why The American Legon supports the draft bill to amend Title 38 to improve the reproductive treatment provided to certain disabled veterans," Celli said.

Other Legion-supported legislation considered at the hearing included:

• A draft bill directing VA to submit an annual report on the Veterans Health Administration.

• H.R. 267 would expand the definition of “homeless veteran” for purposes of VA benefits eligibility.

• H.R. 1369, to give VA the authority to enter into provider agreements for extended care services.

• H.R. 1575 would make permanent a pilot program on counseling, in retreat setting, for women veterans newly separated from active duty.

• H.R. 1769, the Toxic Exposure Research Act, would establish a national center at VA for research on the diagnosis and treatment of descendants of veterans exposed to toxic substances while in the military.