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The Veterans Administration Choice Act, signed into law about a year ago, was supposed to ease backlogs in care for veterans by opening access to non-VA treatment options. But, advocates say, the VA could be doing a much better job providing health care to Northwest Indiana veterans by allowing them to use their benefits locally. ... But local veterans say much more needs to be done to fix a system that requires some Indiana veterans to travel more than 70 miles to Chicago for treatment. ... Veterans who live within 40 miles of Adam Benjamin VA Outpatient Center don't qualify for a VA Choice voucher even if the specialty care they require is unavailable at the Crown Point facility. (Lazerus, 8/21)

As high-ranking military chiefs debate allowing women into the front lines of combat, researchers from the Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs are adding new research to the mix: Women warriors are at the same risk of post-traumatic stress disorder as men. The finding, published in the latest issue of the Journal of Psychiatric Research, offers insight into the long-term mental health effects of military service for women — including experience with combat. (Gebelhoff, 8/21)

Sgt. [Tyler] Durden is a participant in a clinical trial, one tackling an issue that is both costly and garnering greater awareness in the military: hearing damage. Such damage traces not just to explosive sounds such as an M16 shot—a momentary 155 decibels, far louder than a jackhammer—but also to constant exposure to lesser noise such as that of engines. The trial is testing an experimental drug that might prevent noise-induced hearing loss, in a collaboration between an academic scientist and the military. (Dockser Marcus, 8/21)