thedrifter
01-12-07, 12:49 PM
Senators: Expand traumatic injury insurance
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Jan 12, 2007 12:42:28 EST
A bill making retroactive awards of traumatic injury insurance to about 215 wounded service members has been introduced by the Democratic chairman and ranking Republican member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee.
The measure, S 225, would provide payments of between $25,000 and $100,000 to service members injured between Oct. 7, 2001, and Dec. 1, 2005, whose injuries were not incurred in a combat zone.
When the program was enacted, it covered all traumatic injuries, both in and outside combat zones, as of Dec. 1, 2005. The payments also were made retroactive to Oct. 7, 2001, the start of combat operations in Afghanistan, but the retroactive aspect of the program was limited only to traumatic injuries incurred in combat zones.
Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, the former veterans’ committee chairman and now ranking minority member, who was the original sponsor of the traumatic injury insurance plan, said about 3,000 injured service members have received payments based on the severity of their injury, but the eligibility gap needs to be closed as a matter of fairness.
Covering traumatic injuries regardless of where they occur is a “recognition that military service is universal in character, that each military man or woman, no matter where they are serving, contributes in a unique way to make the United States armed forces second to none,” Craig said.
Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, the new veterans’ committee chairman and a supporter of the original insurance plan, is a co-sponsor of the new bill.
The gap in the law was discussed at a September veterans’ committee hearing, but Craig and Akaka were unable to push through legislation in time to fix the problem before Congress adjourned last year. By getting an early start in the new session of Congress, the two hope to close the gap and get the retroactive payments approved.
Ellie
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Jan 12, 2007 12:42:28 EST
A bill making retroactive awards of traumatic injury insurance to about 215 wounded service members has been introduced by the Democratic chairman and ranking Republican member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee.
The measure, S 225, would provide payments of between $25,000 and $100,000 to service members injured between Oct. 7, 2001, and Dec. 1, 2005, whose injuries were not incurred in a combat zone.
When the program was enacted, it covered all traumatic injuries, both in and outside combat zones, as of Dec. 1, 2005. The payments also were made retroactive to Oct. 7, 2001, the start of combat operations in Afghanistan, but the retroactive aspect of the program was limited only to traumatic injuries incurred in combat zones.
Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, the former veterans’ committee chairman and now ranking minority member, who was the original sponsor of the traumatic injury insurance plan, said about 3,000 injured service members have received payments based on the severity of their injury, but the eligibility gap needs to be closed as a matter of fairness.
Covering traumatic injuries regardless of where they occur is a “recognition that military service is universal in character, that each military man or woman, no matter where they are serving, contributes in a unique way to make the United States armed forces second to none,” Craig said.
Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, the new veterans’ committee chairman and a supporter of the original insurance plan, is a co-sponsor of the new bill.
The gap in the law was discussed at a September veterans’ committee hearing, but Craig and Akaka were unable to push through legislation in time to fix the problem before Congress adjourned last year. By getting an early start in the new session of Congress, the two hope to close the gap and get the retroactive payments approved.
Ellie