Mental Health Care for Military Faces Cuts

[Donnachaidh]

From Truthout.org

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/040307HA.shtml

Affordable mental-health care took another blow last month, when Medicare and Tricare - one of the few health-care options for military veterans and their families - reduced the amount it will pay providers.

Now, Medicare pays on the Coast approximately 48 percent of what psychiatrists and psychologists normally charge, and Tricare pays about 45 percent, according to some providers, and are the result of a general 9 percent cut in reimbursement.

As a result, some psychiatrists and psychologists have been forced to drop all people paying for mental health care via Medicare and Tricare from their rolls altogether, because they just cannot afford to keep them on.

This comes at a bad time, as a large number of returning veterans display a host of post-traumatic stress-related symptoms and average Coastians begin to show the painful long-term effects of traumatic stress from Hurricane Katrina.

more at link.

[Erika]

1. Use the troops and abuse them

The GOP policy. We need to contact our D.C. reps fast.