House subcommittee hearings addressed insufficient help for military families, including two million children, needing mental health services. More than half of today’s soldiers have families, yet VA medical facilities have limited their services and have not hired available family therapists. One-in-five soldiers who responded to a survey from the military’s Mental Health Advisory Team reported they were in planning a divorce.
The Army Times reports that the Senate rejected a Pentagon request for increased co-pays for prescription drugs under the government insurance for vets and their families, TRICARE. The Bush budget assumed a fee hike would cover $1.2 billion in next year’s budget. The Pentagon initially asked for a three-to-five fold increase on prescription drug co-pays, and four hundred percent for family health coverage by 2011.
