A bipartisan group of legislators rolled out legislation on Thursday that would help armed service members track events and situations that could lead to later health issues.
Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) and Rep. Steve Stivers (R-Ohio) were among the original co-sponsors of the Mental-health Exposure Military Official Record (MEMORy) Act, which was introduced in both the House and Senate, according to a press release.
“Too often, our nation’s heroes suffer from unseen wounds linked to traumatic events during military service, without a way to prove or document the cause of their injuries,” Blunt said. “This bill would make it easier to document exposures to significant events so we can better develop service members’ and veterans’ claims and work to improve treatment for the increasing number of post traumatic stress and mild traumatic brain injury cases.”
Approximately 300,000 veterans experience post-traumatic stress, and 25,000 veterans suffer mild traumatic brain injuries. Without proper documentation under the current system, it may be difficult for veterans to connect their time in the service to health conditions that surface later.
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), one of the bill’s original co-sponsors, said veterans should be able to focus on recovery rather than having to prove how they suffered their injuries.
“When veterans seek claims for war-related injuries like post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury, the burden for establishing the connection should be on the Department of Defense, not on the veteran,” Brown said.
Under the MEMORy Act, the DoD would document events that individual service members experience that could be connected to post-traumatic stress, mild traumatic brain injuries or other injuries. The information would then be forwarded to the Department of Veteran Affairs to ensure better treatment for veterans and faster processing of claims.