Monday, May 21, 2007
i gotta break free:
Don't miss Kay Steiger's piece on PTSD. I had an eerie experience at one of Camp Liberty's recreation tents in March, where to the left of me a bunch of guys were killing time playing World of Warcraft and to the right of me a mental-health seminar was underway for soldiers about to go home on R&R. The major instruction was about keeping alert for signs of suicidal behavior. Kay:

Robert Bray of the Thought Field Therapy Center of San Diego said that the reimbursements given by TRICARE for treating veterans are so modest in comparison to private practice as to discourage psychologists and psychiatrists from treating veterans with PTSD symptoms. He advocates making veterans' health coverage similar to a private insurance policy that would allow them to be treated in private practice and have the VA or DOD cover most of the bill, rather than dealing with the long waiting periods for an appointment in the VA system.

I'll leave health care policy to my friends who, unlike me, know something about it, but this is clearly unacceptable.
--Spencer Ackerman