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Vets wrongly charged for free care, IG finds

Veterans seeking treatment for sexual trauma suffered in the military may have been improperly charged co-payments by the Veterans Affairs Department, according to a new report from the VA inspector general.

The report, issued Thursday, has resulted in a change in billing practices and a promise that anyone charged for mental health counseling or treatment for physical health conditions could get his or her money back.

Free counseling and treatment, mental or physical, is available for male or female veterans for sexual trauma that occurred while on active duty or during National Guard and reserve duties. Unlike disability-related health issues, which veterans often must prove are service-connected, veterans seeking treatment for injury, illness or psychological conditions relating to sexual trauma do not have to provide any documentation or evidence that they reported the incident that caused the trauma.

All veterans can receive the care; they don’t even have to be eligible for veterans benefits or be enrolled in the veterans health care system.

More than 65,000 patients were treated by the VA for sexual trauma in fiscal 2009, according to the report.

The investigation of improper co-payments was launched at the request of Sen. Daniel Akaka, the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee chairman, who had received specific complaints about sexual trauma victims being charged co-payments for visits and medication at a VA outpatient clinic in Austin, Texas.

A review found that of 250 veterans treated for sexual trauma, 86 were billed for services.

While investigators looked only at the Texas clinic, the problems could have happened elsewhere, the report says.

“I am concerned that some veterans may still be charged for care they should receive for free, unnecessarily adding complications to the recovery process,” Akaka said in a statement. “However, I am pleased that VA’s leadership is ordering changes system-wide as the Inspector General recommended. I will continue to monitor this issue.”

He also made a point of thanking the veteran who initially complained about being charged. “If she had not stood up for her fellow veterans, these national changes would not be in the works. Once again, this veteran has served her country well,” he said.

The woman was not identified by name by Akaka or in the report.