thedrifter
01-10-08, 07:12 AM
Helping the wounded gain trauma injury pay
Published Thu, Jan 10, 2008 12:00 AM
By Tom Philpott
milupdate@aol.com
Too many severely injured troops and their families haven't been getting the bedside help they need in preparing applications to qualify for up to $100,000 in traumatic injury insurance. But that is going to change, says Army Col. John Sackett.
Sackett heads the Traumatic
Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance branch within the U.S. Army Human Resources Command in
Alexandria, Va. More than 6,600 claims for group life insurance have been filed by wounded or injured soldiers since the program began on Dec. 1, 2005.
But only 2,700 Army claims, about 40 percent of the total, have been
approved.
Many more wounded members from all services would be found
eligible for group life insurance, or
have their applications approved much sooner than now occurs, if
service members, family caregivers and, especially, medical staff were
better informed on the kind of
detailed documentation Traumatic Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance requires, Sackett said.
To increase their knowledge,
and boost the number of claims approved, the Army is assigning Soldier
Family Support Specialists to
10 military treatment facilities critical in the treatment of trauma patients.
These specialists already are deployed and holding Traumatic Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance training sessions for anyone involved in care giving or advising severely wounded or injured members at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington; Brooke Army Medical Center, Fort Sam Houston, Texas; William Beaumont AMC, Fort Bliss, Texas; Womack Army Medical Center. Fort Bragg, N.C.; and Eisenhower Army Medical Center, Fort Gordon, Ga.
More of these counselors are
being trained to deploy soon to
Schofield Army Medical Center,
Hawaii; Blanchfield Army Community Hospital, Fort Campbell, Ky.; Guthrie Ambulatory Army Medical Center, Fort Drum, N.Y.; Madigan Army Medical Center, Fort Lewis, Wash.; and Darnall Army Hospital, Fort Hood, Texas.
Every member covered by Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance also pays an extra $1 a month for traumatic injury protection. Traumatic Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance pays $25,000 up to $100,000 to help severely injured members and families handle the extra expense and the strain of adjusting to
life-altering injuries.
The Department of Veterans Affairs, which administers Traumatic Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance, lists
44 types of losses that can qualify a member for payment. Conditions not difficult to document involve the loss of body parts or bodily functions, severe burns, or severe brain and spinal chord injuries.
A far bigger problem in preparing group life insurance claims, however, involves members who suffer severe wounds to limbs that are saved or have mild traumatic brain injury. The trauma can leave them dependent on others to perform "activities of daily living" such as dressing, bathing, or feeding themselves for extended periods.
If unable to independently perform two or more of these activities for 30 days, the member will qualify for $25,000 in group life insurance. If debilitated in this way for 60 days, the payment is $50,000; 90 days, $75,000; and 120 days would qualify for the maximum award of $100,000.
Of nearly 3,700 Army Traumatic Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance claims rejected by the VA, about 90 percent involve claims of members' lost ability to perform activities of daily living. They are being rejected, Sackett said, because care givers including medical staff aren't documenting what VA needs to see to prove loss of ability to perform activities of daily life for 30 to 120 days.
Too often a patient's records, Sackett said, "simply states 'We're treating an injury,' 'We're treating an injury', 'We're treating an injury' " with no indication of how injuries affect their daily living and for how long.
"The way to resolve this is to put boots on the ground, so to speak, to help the individuals get the necessary documentation they need at the military treatment facility," Sackett said.
In recent months the VA has relaxed the degree of debilitation that needs to be documented. It used to require evidence that members were "completely dependent" on others for two or more activities of daily living for 30 to 120 days. Now caregivers need only show that members were unable to "independently perform" these activities for the required periods of time.
From this change alone, said Christian Harris, program managers for the Army Traumatic Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance outreach program, claim approval rates are starting to rise.
"We (also) are working with VA to try to adjust program guidance to include a wider array of debilitating injuries," Harris said.
Wounded service members and their families also need to understand how early application for group life insurance can cut off their eligibility for Combat Injury Pay and thus lower a member's total compensation over time, Sackett said.
A year ago Congress decided it was unfair that service members wounded in a war saw hostile fire pay, imminent danger pay and hazardous duty pay end within a month of being medically evacuated. So since March 23, 2006, medical evacuees can draw Combat Injury Pay, which replaces war zone pays that stop during hospitalization or rehabilitation. It can total $430 a month.
But wounded service members should be aware that Combat Injury Pay ends when a member is awarded Traumatic Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance. Those facing long periods of convalescence could be denying themselves almost $5200 a year if they apply too early for group life insurance, Sackett said. Traumatic Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance specialists will include this in their briefings.
Ellie
Published Thu, Jan 10, 2008 12:00 AM
By Tom Philpott
milupdate@aol.com
Too many severely injured troops and their families haven't been getting the bedside help they need in preparing applications to qualify for up to $100,000 in traumatic injury insurance. But that is going to change, says Army Col. John Sackett.
Sackett heads the Traumatic
Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance branch within the U.S. Army Human Resources Command in
Alexandria, Va. More than 6,600 claims for group life insurance have been filed by wounded or injured soldiers since the program began on Dec. 1, 2005.
But only 2,700 Army claims, about 40 percent of the total, have been
approved.
Many more wounded members from all services would be found
eligible for group life insurance, or
have their applications approved much sooner than now occurs, if
service members, family caregivers and, especially, medical staff were
better informed on the kind of
detailed documentation Traumatic Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance requires, Sackett said.
To increase their knowledge,
and boost the number of claims approved, the Army is assigning Soldier
Family Support Specialists to
10 military treatment facilities critical in the treatment of trauma patients.
These specialists already are deployed and holding Traumatic Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance training sessions for anyone involved in care giving or advising severely wounded or injured members at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington; Brooke Army Medical Center, Fort Sam Houston, Texas; William Beaumont AMC, Fort Bliss, Texas; Womack Army Medical Center. Fort Bragg, N.C.; and Eisenhower Army Medical Center, Fort Gordon, Ga.
More of these counselors are
being trained to deploy soon to
Schofield Army Medical Center,
Hawaii; Blanchfield Army Community Hospital, Fort Campbell, Ky.; Guthrie Ambulatory Army Medical Center, Fort Drum, N.Y.; Madigan Army Medical Center, Fort Lewis, Wash.; and Darnall Army Hospital, Fort Hood, Texas.
Every member covered by Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance also pays an extra $1 a month for traumatic injury protection. Traumatic Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance pays $25,000 up to $100,000 to help severely injured members and families handle the extra expense and the strain of adjusting to
life-altering injuries.
The Department of Veterans Affairs, which administers Traumatic Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance, lists
44 types of losses that can qualify a member for payment. Conditions not difficult to document involve the loss of body parts or bodily functions, severe burns, or severe brain and spinal chord injuries.
A far bigger problem in preparing group life insurance claims, however, involves members who suffer severe wounds to limbs that are saved or have mild traumatic brain injury. The trauma can leave them dependent on others to perform "activities of daily living" such as dressing, bathing, or feeding themselves for extended periods.
If unable to independently perform two or more of these activities for 30 days, the member will qualify for $25,000 in group life insurance. If debilitated in this way for 60 days, the payment is $50,000; 90 days, $75,000; and 120 days would qualify for the maximum award of $100,000.
Of nearly 3,700 Army Traumatic Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance claims rejected by the VA, about 90 percent involve claims of members' lost ability to perform activities of daily living. They are being rejected, Sackett said, because care givers including medical staff aren't documenting what VA needs to see to prove loss of ability to perform activities of daily life for 30 to 120 days.
Too often a patient's records, Sackett said, "simply states 'We're treating an injury,' 'We're treating an injury', 'We're treating an injury' " with no indication of how injuries affect their daily living and for how long.
"The way to resolve this is to put boots on the ground, so to speak, to help the individuals get the necessary documentation they need at the military treatment facility," Sackett said.
In recent months the VA has relaxed the degree of debilitation that needs to be documented. It used to require evidence that members were "completely dependent" on others for two or more activities of daily living for 30 to 120 days. Now caregivers need only show that members were unable to "independently perform" these activities for the required periods of time.
From this change alone, said Christian Harris, program managers for the Army Traumatic Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance outreach program, claim approval rates are starting to rise.
"We (also) are working with VA to try to adjust program guidance to include a wider array of debilitating injuries," Harris said.
Wounded service members and their families also need to understand how early application for group life insurance can cut off their eligibility for Combat Injury Pay and thus lower a member's total compensation over time, Sackett said.
A year ago Congress decided it was unfair that service members wounded in a war saw hostile fire pay, imminent danger pay and hazardous duty pay end within a month of being medically evacuated. So since March 23, 2006, medical evacuees can draw Combat Injury Pay, which replaces war zone pays that stop during hospitalization or rehabilitation. It can total $430 a month.
But wounded service members should be aware that Combat Injury Pay ends when a member is awarded Traumatic Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance. Those facing long periods of convalescence could be denying themselves almost $5200 a year if they apply too early for group life insurance, Sackett said. Traumatic Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance specialists will include this in their briefings.
Ellie