Obama announces PTSD claims reform

WASHINGTON, July 10 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama said Saturday the federal government will make it easier for military veterans to get treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.

In his weekly radio and Internet address, Obama said the change would come beginning Monday.

He said veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, as well as earlier wars, "have often found themselves stymied" when seeking benefits for PSTD.

"They've been required to produce evidence proving that a specific event caused their PTSD," he said. "And that practice has kept the vast majority of those with PTSD who served in non-combat roles, but who still waged war, from getting the care they need.

"Well, I don't think our troops on the battlefield should have to take notes to keep for a claims application," Obama said. "And I've met enough veterans to know that you don't have to engage in a firefight to endure the trauma of war."

The president said beginning Monday, the Department of Veterans Affairs "will begin making it easier for a veteran with PTSD to get the benefits he or she needs."

"This is a long-overdue step that will help veterans not just of the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars, but generations of their brave predecessors who proudly served and sacrificed in all our wars," the president said.

"For the better part of a decade, our men and women in uniform have endured tour after tour in distant and dangerous places," he said. "Many have risked their lives. Many have given their lives. And as a grateful nation, humbled by their service, we can never honor these American heroes or their families enough."

Obama said the United States has "a solemn responsibility to provide our veterans and wounded warriors with the care and benefits they've earned when they come home."