. >> reporter: warren lockette is in charge of tricare, the military's health insurance. tricare does not cover most cognitive care, calling it "not supported by reliable scientific evidence." >> there are pockets of techniques that have been demonstrated to be effective, but we really can't say cognitive rehabilitation therapy is effective when it stands alone. >> reporter: but advocates say that policy, along with poor screening procedures, leaves nearly 400,000 vets with limited options. the vast majority of them get no meaningful treatment. it's specialized care that's hard to find, harder to fund. but here at atlanta's sheppard center a few vets do get the help they need, a very lucky through. >> everyone that comes through here is better, tons better than when they show up. >> reporter: it's called the share initiative, a four-month regimen of physical and mental services, recreational therapy like horse riding, designed to relax the brain and ease anxiety. so far, sheppard's treated more than 200 soldiers. dr. darryl kaelin runs the program. any doubt in your mind

this amendment would protect medicare, tricare and v.a. health care from being eliminated and replaced with voucher or premium support programs. the road to ruin budget ends medicare. this is a program that 46 million seniors and disabled individuals rely on for their health care. rather than guarantee benefit, seniors and the disabled will be left with a voucher or so-called premium support that by design cannot and will not keep up with rising health care costs. the private market views seniors as a risky and expensive investment, so, too, the disabled, so, too, military service members and veterans who have unique health needs earned through their sacrifice in service to america. the question before us today is not whether to reduce the deficit but how. we have balanced the budget before without ending medicare, we can do it again without the painful consequences that the republican plan would initiate when our seniors would pay 68 cents of every $1 of insurance required as opposed to congress paying 28 cents on every $1. 46 million peo

-sponsored program for military families or tricare program and say, you know, help me with services. are additional services coming online that are available, not just for the service member but for the family. but we know that in some geographic areas, that is a real problem. i would hope that you check with us as well to see if we can connect you with resources. host: one viewer said if we were to exit iraq and afghanistan soon, some of the affected soldiers returning home without jobs. i use that as a way to point out that usa today yesterday a story on vets from combat to campus, trying to ensure success and ease the transition from military life. on both of these, how do you respond? guest: what we have seen in the economy has been a factor in the veteran employment rate, as it stands today. we have a lot of people out looking for jobs. i think military veterans are going to have the same issues. we know military spouses today have the issues because they move to a new community and can't get a job in that community because of the economy. i think we have to push out to employer

the health care system is driving the cost of the military's tricare system and the v.a. system. no one is exempt. it doesn't matter who your insurer is. the health care system is what is driving the costs in public and in private programs alike. so we have to address the health care system problem if we're going to get our health care costs under control. simply going after one manner of payment like the medicare system misses the real target and will cause us to fail at our endeavor instead of tackling this vital problem of the underlying growth in health care costs the ryan budget would end medicare as we know it. and just look at these numbers. i was born in 1955. there was a $12 billion program the entire national health care system. by 1979, up to $219 billion. by 1987, $512 billion. by 1992, $849 billion. and from 1992 to 2009, it has soared to $2.5 trillion. this is a rocket that every insurer is on, and you can't just throw the medicare people off of their health care and pretend you're going to do anything about bringing down that accelerating curve. but instead of tack

-sponsored program for military families or tricare program and say, you know, help me with services.here are additional services coming online that are available, not just for the service member but for the family. but we know that in some geographic areas, that is a real problem. i would hope that you check with us as well to see if we can connect you with resources. host: one viewer said if we were to exit iraq and afghanistan soon, some of the affected soldiers returning home without jobs. i use that as a way to point out that usa today yesterday a story on vets from combat to campus, trying to ensure success and ease the transition from military life. on both of these, how do you respond? guest: what we have seen in the economy has been a factor in the veteran employment rate, as it stands today. we have a lot of people out looking for jobs. i think military veterans are going to have the same issues. we know military spouses today have the issues because they move to a new community and can't get a job in that community because of the economy. i think we have to push out to empl

it will ensure that congress will not turn medicare, tricare into a voucher system that rations care to our seniors. i would now like to yield to our ranking member. >> thank you. i want to be clear about what the republican budget does. it ends the medicare guaranteed. what does that mean? it means seniors will be forced to go into the private insurance market. as costs rise, they will bear the risks of those costs. everybody's payroll taxes for medicare and the premium that people pay for medicare will go to the private insurance industry. what this amendment says is, we are not going to do that to seniors. makes the point that this is a great idea for seniors. why aren't you doing it to our veterans? to aren't you doing it active duty personnel? ebay trends program is a government funded program. the as my colleague said, the federal employee health benefit plan has a fair share formula. it has a set percentage that goes to beneficiaries. in other words, the risk of rising health care costs are shared equally under the federal employee program that every member of congress is on.