The High Cost of PTSD and Traumatic Brain Injury Treatment

Yesterday, the Congressional Budget Office released a study on the Veterans Affairs Department's treatment of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, which showed that dealing with these invisible wounds of war carries a high financial price tag.

In a blog post today, CBO director Douglas W. Elmendorf said the average cost of treating veterans with PTSD, TBI or both was "about four to six times greater . . . than for patients without those conditions."

He said one in four recent combat veterans treated at VA from 2004 to 2009 had a diagnosis of PTSD and about 7 percent had a diagnosis of TBI. In 2010, VA spent a total of $2 billion to treat Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.

These bottom line dollar costs do not take into account the emotional and psychological price these vets and their families will pay for years to come. And based on my experience as a Marine Vietnam War veteran, that could be a lifetime.