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Military families throughout TRICARE's west region now have a new way to learn about their health care benefits through the movies. ... "TRICARE 2 You" video topics, which run an average of three minutes in a prime-time news format, include explanations of TRICARE plan options, how to access specialty care, behavioral health resources, pharmacy options and newborn enrollment, among others. "We wanted to do whatever it takes to help our beneficiaries maximize use of their TRICARE benefit and avoid out-of-pocket costs," said David J. McIntyre, president and CEO of TriWest Healthcare Alliance. "This is especially useful for service members, particularly those in the National Guard and Reserve who live or work in rural areas without convenient access to military base resources," he said. Produced by TriWest, in partnership with TRICARE Regional Office-West, the videos are housed in the company's new "TRICARE 2 You Online Library" at www.triwest.com/T2U.

Legislation introduced recently by Rep. John Hall, D-Dover Plains, would lift the burden of proof from veterans who served in combat zones and have a diagnosis of PTSD, allowing them to receive disability benefits without having to prove that a specific incident caused the disorder. In the Iraq and Afghanistan wars alone, more than 100,000 veterans have been found to have PTSD, but only 42,000 have been granted service-connected disability for their condition, said Hall, chairman of the Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs. The disability claims backlog at the VA tops 800,000. A large percentage of that number are Vietnam veterans seeking compensation for PTSD, Hall said.

Dunkin' Donuts, the Canton-based chain of coffee-and-baked-goods shops, announced an Iced Coffee Day on April 21 that aims to benefit injured veterans. On Iced Coffee Day, the price for a small cup of iced coffee will be reduced to 50 cents at participating Dunkin' Donuts shops, the chain said; for every small iced coffee purchased on this day, Dunkin' Donuts said it will donate five cents to benefit Homes for Our Troops, a nonprofit organization that builds specially adapted homes for severely injured veterans. Dunkin' Donuts has created a special website about Iced Coffee Day; to visit it, please click here.

Duckworth told senators yesterday that: "To become a 21st-century organization, the DVA (Department of Veterans Affairs) will have to change some past methods. It's no longer enough to hand out brochures at demobilization ceremonies. We must develop social networking strategies, use nontraditional outlets such as blogs, and employ the wide variety of new media available to get the message of available benefits to our veterans."

Currently, there are a number of bills before Congress that would benefit veterans with PTSD and their families. Additionally, the military is expanding its effort to increase outreach to soldiers with PTSD.

Building upon some of the data-rich news clips shared earlier this week, a few more grafs to consider.

While most in Washington have been busily paying attention to the Sotomayor hearings this week, the Senate Veterans Affairs' Committee met Tuesday morning to consider the quality of VA care provided to our nation's 1.8 million female veterans.