Costs of Military Eye Injury, Vision Impairment, and Related Blindness and Vision Dysfunction Associated with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) without Eye Injury Prepared by

Abstract

2 TAKE AWAY MESSAGE Based on published data from 2000-2010, the total incident cost of eye injury in the military each year in this timeframe has been $2.282 billion, which represents superficial eye injury, nonsuperficial eye injury that does and does not result in permanent visual impairment or blindness, and vision impairment related to Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). If we multiply the one-year costs by 11 to account for the period from 2000-2010, the total cost to the economy of all ocular injury and vision impairment related to TBI is$25.107 billion. Of that total, the costs incurred in the first year (all for superficial injury, initial medical care for non-superficial injuries, and rehabilitation for bilateral vision impairment) are $634 million. This is money that has already been spent. The present value of the projected Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) benefits for the remainder of the lives of all service members with ocular injuries in the 11 years under study is$188 million. The present value of the projected costs to the remainder of the economy over the remaining lifetimes of the service members with eye injuries or vision impairment due to TBI is $24.286 billion. This last cost is not to the federal government but to the economy and society as a whole