For a long time, the stigma has been that veterans apply for service connection for the compensation, but as for the compensation part, I defer that to Congress.
Just know that it’s obvious that partial compensation de-incentives calling the doctor, which is already avoided by this cohort. Compensation could be tied to healthcare seeking until a condition is found to be permanent and stationary. I said what I said.
The narrative is key in mental health causation.
When did the change in mental health status occur? What was happening then? When was the change first noticed, or, when did you know that the change was not going away?
I’ve been self-employed most of my career. I was a W-2 employee when I first entered mental health practice. Within 18 months, my first employer was charged with fraudulent Medicare billing. I quit that job and started my own substantially similar business. I never billed Medicare fraudulently. Several years ago, I began working for another individual. Within 24 months, that individual was charged with fraudulent worker’s compensation billing. I quit that job and am still working for a spin off with a group that does not bill for work that isn’t being done.
Healthcare costs would not have escalated if doctors didn’t bill for services that weren’t necessary. Healthcare costs would not have escalated if doctors didn’t bill for services that weren’t delivered.
Intake paperwork and assessment in every doctor’s office asks you what’s wrong .. that’s healthcare .. and what caused it .. that’s who’s going to pay for treatment. VA benefits examiners, like me, ask the same questions because if there is no service connection, there is no access to healthcare for injuries sustained while serving our country.
In 1981, we called it the brain-behavior relationship. Now, we all call it neuroscience. It’s not the only important part of us, but in PTSD, it’s the part that got injured.
We know more about PTSD now than we have in the past. It’s critical that we lift this convo out of the 1900s. It’s the part that robs us of agency, which makes us miserable, as it should.