U.S. Spent $5.6 Billion Last Year Treating Veterans with
Mental Disabilities
April 19, 2010
Source:
http://www.allgov.com/Where_is_the_Money_Going/ViewNews/US_Spent_5_6
_Billion_Dollars_Last_Year_Treating_Veterans_with_Mental_Disabilities_100419
Caring for soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and
other mental illnesses is costing the federal government billions of dollars a
year, and will continue to do so for years to come. According to an analysis of
Department of Veterans Affairs’ records by the Chicago Tribune, the VA spent
$5.6 billion last year to treat mental disabilities. While these costs included
treating veterans from previous wars, such as Vietnam and the Persian Gulf, the
ballooning expenses have been driven largely by soldiers serving in Afghanistan
and Iraq.
The Chicago Tribune found mental illness-related disability costs have soared
76% since 2003, “burdening an already overwhelmed system and underscoring the
reality that the biggest costs of war are not often immediate or visible.”
One military survey of about 100,000 veterans of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars
showed that 31% had been diagnosed with mental health or psychosocial problems.
-Noel Brinkerhoff