From intro to a front page story in
The New York Times Nov. 12:
Tracy Keil met her husband, Matt, in August 2005 between his first and second tours of duty in Iraq. They married in January 2007. Six weeks later, Staff Sergeant Keil was shot in the neck while on patrol in Ramadi, Iraq, and rendered a quadriplegic.
The Keils’ (pictured) home, in Parker, Colo., was donated to them, but without her job and benefits, their expenses are mounting.
Because her husband, now 27, could no longer take care of himself, not even to get a drink of water, Mrs. Keil, 31, quit her job as an accountant to take care of him.
She tried to hire others to help her, a service that is paid for by the government, but after going through four workers in nine months she gave up. She said many of the caregivers from contractors on the government-provided list “were awful.” One did not know how to use the lift system that hoists Mr. Keil out of bed; another gossiped about the family’s private business.
But the real problem was that even the good caregivers could not help Mr. Keil live as he wanted. Regulations, for example, do not permit them to take him out of the house. “Matt is back to his old self, and we like to get out and about, go grocery shopping or a see a movie,” Mrs. Keil said. “He doesn’t want just a baby sitter.”
While she has never regretted leaving her job, the financial repercussions have been serious. Although Mr. Keil gets a full disability pension of $6,800 a month and their house in Parker, Colo., was donated to them, they have lost Mrs. Keil’s salary of $58,000 a year, as well as employer contributions to her retirement account, and her dental plan.
Mrs. Keil has joined a growing group of veterans’ families who are asking to be compensated in place of a caregiver. She sees it not only as a battle about income but also about dignity and respect.
“I am here and I take wonderful care of Matt and I enjoy it,” she said. “But he would be institutionalized without me. He is my full-time job now. I just feel like I should be compensated for that. They should value what I do.”
In the last session of Congress, families and veterans groups persuaded lawmakers to introduce legislation that, among other things, would allow families of soldiers with traumatic brain injuries to be paid for their caretaking after training and
certification by the Veterans Affairs Department. The Keils think they would benefit because Mr. Keil has minor brain trauma as well. The bill did not come up for a vote but the families think it stands a better chance next year because President-elect Barack Obama has endorsed other supportive legislation and the future first lady, Michelle Obama, has said helping veterans’ families will be a priority to her.
The Veterans Affairs Department opposed the legislation, saying it would create unacceptable liability; if a veteran was injured by a family member trained by the department, it would be liable. But Paul Rieckhoff, executive director and founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, said families of veterans suspected that the government was not compensating them for another reason: because they know they would do the work anyway. “They are kind of being taken advantage of,” Mr. Rieckhoff said.
The question of how to best take care of a service member wounded in war is a well-worn battleground. But broader compensation for family members has become a pressing issue, veterans’ groups say, because better medical technology has allowed so many soldiers to survive with serious injuries.
From intro to a front page story in The New York Times Nov. 12:
