Last week the Times reported new VA rules governing eligibility for disability benefit based on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). And a Room-for-Debate blog covered some discussion of the issues.
One of the challenges in understanding compensation programs for veterans is that data are harder to come by than they are for the entire civilian population. There's a vibrant literature on the effects of Social Security's Disability Insurance, by John Bound and others for example. But veteran subsamples in surveys tend to be small, and relatively few questions about VA compensation or utilization are asked.
