Report

In recent years, the number of veterans seeking disability compensation for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has spiked by almost 80 percent and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is currently providing more than $4 billion in compensation for the condition.  The surge in claims by Vietnam War veterans and other former military personnel has revealed inconsistencies in how veterans are rated for PTSD disability and in compensation levels.

Against this backdrop, VA's Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) asked the Institute of Medicine and National Research Council to convene a committee of experts to address several issues surrounding its administration of veterans' compensation for PTSD. The resulting report, PTSD Compensation and Military Service, recommends ways to fix shortcomings in VA's program for evaluating and compensating veterans for service-connected PTSD and to restore confidence that the agency is compensating all veterans fairly.  The report also addresses questions about how long after a traumatic event PTSD can arise and how to better manage PTSD claims related to sexual harassment or assault during military service.