Democratic Senators Ask Pentagon For More Rehabilitation For Soldiers

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - Nine Democratic senators led by Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN) are asking Defense Secretary Robert Gates to provide cognitive rehabilitation therapies to soldiers with traumatic brain injury (TBI).

In a letter to Gates, Bayh along with Sens. Barack Obama (D-IL), Hillary Clinton (D-NY), among others, expressed concern over the Pentagon's exclusion of cognitive rehabilitation, which they said is "one of the most widely accepted" treatments for TBI, from the department's TRICARE health insurance program.

Calling TBI "the signature wound of the conflicts in Iran and Afghanistan," and citing a RAND Corporation study saying 19 percent of all Iraqi servicemen may have the injury, the lawmakers asked Gates to "redouble efforts to remove access barriers to proven therapies."

Other Democratic lawmakers who signed the letter were Sens. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Ted Kennedy (D-MA), John Kerry (D-MA), Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), Claire McCaskill (D-MO) and Ken Salazar (D-CO). Joe Lieberman (I-CT) joined the Democrats as a signatory.