Veterans who have Military Sexual Trauma as a result of their service do not need documentation of the event or have a Department of Veterans Affairs disability rating or pending claim to get VA help.
During VA Secretary Denis McDonough’s monthly press conference in June, Cheryl Rawls, executive director of outreach, transition and economic development for the Veterans Benefits Administration, said MST impacts every aspect of a veteran’s life.
“VA will provide free treatment for any physical or mental health condition related to the experiences of MST,” she said. “There is no documentation needed or a VA disability rating to get VA care.”
Rawls said VBA has made changes to how it processes MST-related claims.
“We’ve consolidated our claims processing to a dedicated, specially trained team to review all disability claims related to military sexual assault,” she said.
VBA also has MST outreach coordinators – one male, one female – at each of its 56 regional offices to provide support for veterans experiencing military sexual trauma.
Rawls added that VBA recently completed its annual MST National Training Symposium.
“As a result of our efforts, the grant rate for MST-related PTSD claims has risen every year from 2013 to 2022,” she said. “In 2013, it was a 50.5% percent grant rate and in 2022 the grant rate was 74.6.”
Rawls said VBA has also seen an increase in the number of MST-related claims that are filed. In FY 2022, 28,354 were completed. As of June 2023, 30,575 have been completed.
Related
“Our current inventory of MST claims is a little over 29,000,” she continued.
Rawls said VBA and the Department of Defense recently signed a memorandum of agreement that gives VBA access to information, including the personally identifiable information of service members who make an unrestricted report of sexual assault to DOD.
Veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors also have a new way to report incidents of sexual assault or sexual harassment at Department of Veterans Affairs facilities. The incidents can be reported by calling 1-800-MyVA411 (1-800-698-2411, option 9).
McDonough additionally faced questions on a delay in VA’s policy on gender affirmation surgery for transgender veterans.
In June 2021, McDonough announced that VA would cover gender affirmation surgery for transgender veterans, but so far no rules have been published to regulate it.
“The bottom line is, when I make the decision, it will be my job to defend it, and so I want to be in the best position to do that," he said.
Current regulations prohibit VA from covering the cost of gender-affirming surgery.
Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com.
Related
