US military insurers 'will not cover cognitive rehabilitation therapy'RSS Feed

US military health officials have refused to pay for a new traumatic brain injury treatment for troops on the grounds that it is scientifically unproven, reports say.

An internal 2009 study conducted by the Tricare Management Agency found that cognitive rehabilitation therapy is not scientifically proven, despite being recommended by medical professionals and lawmakers.

Cognitive rehabilitation therapy reportedly involves one-on-one help for individuals to re-learn basic skills relating to numeracy, memory and language.

The Military Times reports Dr James Malec, a research director at Rehabilitation Hospital of Indiana, as saying: "It seems to me this is motivated by an effort to control costs, that anything quote-unquote 'new' is going to be denied."

Meanwhile, researchers from the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Health Care System and the University of Minnesota Medical School found that long term psychosocial behavioural symptoms and a mild traumatic brain injury sustained during combat are not linked unless there is also evidence of underlying post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

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Posted by Matthew Heap
 

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