McCaul In The News
Press Release
McCaul In The News
Edits made per Franking Commission
August 20, 2007
McCaul to vets: "We want to make sure we're taking care of you"
By Debbie Bradley, as printed in The Katy Times
On Tuesday, U.S. Representative Michael McCaul came to Katy to meet with recently discharged military personnel and the families of those that are still fighting overseas to discuss the application process for the Veterans Administration benefits.
"We want to make sure we're taking care of our veterans when they get back," McCaul said.
McCaul said that Congress recently passed what was one of the largest veterans health care spending increases in the history of the program.
"A lot of the issues that have been popping up are brain injuries that they may not be aware of, they have to be screened for that," he said.
"Of course Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is something that pops up, maybe not right away, but in time. We have a suicide hotline because we've had one constituent who took his lifeafter he got back.
"I know y'all have seen a lot of bad things while you were over there and its hard to come back and adjust to normal society after experiencing something like that."
McCaul said that he had been holding many presentations around his district because he knew that there would be several veterans in the area that might not know about their benefits.
"What we offer, generally, is two years from your separation date you are eligible to receive care," Fern Taylor, the Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom veterans service coordinator, said.
Initially, they get the veteran's primary care provider, who would be responsible for the veteran's total care.
"So, at two in the afternoon, when something is bothering you, rather than make a trip to the medical center, as what we call a walk in you can talk to your primary care provider," Taylor said.
The second part available is for brain injuries.
"That is truly the signature of this particular war," Taylor said. "The obvious injury, the physical one, of course we deal with those. A lot of those patients are transferred to us from the military treatment facility.
"But there's also the minor, that sort of jumbles things within your skull. So we want to identify those early on so we can deal with those. We also teach coping for not just the veterans, but also the family members."
Taylor said that the two-year waiting period gives the veterans a chance to file for any benefits or compensation for injuries that they may have received during their service.
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