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Ensuring Veterans Receive the Care They Deserve
By U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown
Guest Column
While serving our country, many veterans sustain a variety
of injuries. These injuries can be visible physical injuries
but other so-called “invisible injuries” persist and can
affect veterans just as much, or more, than the more obvious
visible injuries. It is our duty to ensure that these
veterans receive the high quality medical care and
disability benefits they deserve – no matter what kind of
injuries they suffer. Unfortunately, some veterans with
“invisible injuries,” such as mental health issues, have
faced claim denials because they have difficulty proving a
link between their injury and their military service.
Nearly 300,000 American veterans struggle with Post
Traumatic Stress (PTS) and about 25,000 have mild Traumatic
Brain Injuries (mTBI). These injuries stem from traumatic
events that they have faced or witnessed in combat but those
events go undocumented, making the claims filing process
more difficult – leaving them with incomplete or improper
medical care. We need to work together to find solutions
that help us better care for all our veterans.
That is why I am proud to have introduced legislation based
on solutions brought to me by an Ohio combat veteran,
Michael Fairman. Mr. Fairman believes that by better
documenting soldiers’ injuries in real time, the Department
of Defense (DOD) can help service members and veterans
receive proper care and treatment. Michael, the co-founder
of the Summit for Soldiers - Post Traumatic Stress/Suicide
Awareness Campaign, is dedicated to raising awareness about
PTS, destigmatizing the injury, and helping veterans
recover. Based on his and other veterans’ input, ideas, and
insights about how to document combat injuries when they
occur, making claims filing easier should the need arise, I
wrote and introduced the Significant Event Tracker
(SET) Act.
The SET Act will ease the record-keeping burden on veterans,
providing service members with an individualized document
detailing when they were exposed to events – such as
roadside bombings – that might later be connected to
“invisible injuries.” This document will provide a detailed,
real-time account that links what is already included in DOD
unit reports to the individual service members, will help
military medical officers better diagnose and treat service
members that have mental health concerns, and will help
veterans file better initial claims.
Veterans should be able to focus on their recovery, not
having to prove the cause of their injury. This bill puts
the responsibility on the Defense Department – not the
veteran – to track significant events that could lead to PTS
or TBI, ensuring they receive the benefits and treatment
they deserve.
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