A new rule goes into effect today that makes it easier for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder to file for federal benefits.

Veterans will no longer need to prove a specific incident, or stressor, led to their PTSD — a lengthy process that involved gathering statements from others who served with them, presenting medals and tracking down incident reports, officials said.

The change will reduce the amount of time it takes a veteran with PTSD to receive services and benefits, provided the trauma is diagnosed by a Veterans Affairs psychiatrist or psychologist; is related to fear of hostile military or terrorist activity; and is consistent with the places, types and circumstances of the veteran's service, said officials from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

More than 400,000 veterans currently receive service benefits related to PTSD, Veterans Affairs officials said.

Previous regulations made it particularly difficult for veterans of earlier wars, such as Vietnam, to gather the information necessary to prove that a particular incident led to their PTSD, said Rep. John Hall, D-Dover Plains, who took a lead role in advocating for the change.

Hall spoke with Veterans Affairs leaders about the new rule during a teleconference Monday at the VA Hudson Valley Healthcare System in Castle Point.

The change will also help women, who serve in combat zones but are technically prohibited from direct combat, he said.

Michael Walcoff, Veterans Affairs' acting undersecretary for benefits, said via teleconference that the change represents a "cultural shift" for the VA.

Walcoff said he did not know how many more veterans are expected to file PTSD claims under the new rule or how much the additional cost will be.

When asked about the potential for fraudulent claims, he said veterans will be given the "benefit of the doubt," provided they meet the criteria.

Walcoff said pending claims would be paid retroactively from the date they filed their claim.

"There are people who have had to wait, in some cases, years," Walcoff said.

Veterans whose past claims were denied may reapply, he said.

Officials at Castle Point did not have information on the number of people diagnosed with PTSD over the past several decades.

Hall said the societal cost of treating victims of PTSD is "a cost that we're already bearing." He added that the cost of veterans' care should be looked at as the cost of war.

"We should not have gone to war without considering and planning for that cost," he said.

Norman Bussel, 86, of Mohegan Lake, Westchester County, author of "My Private War: Liberated Body, Captive Mind: A World War II POW's Journey," experienced PTSD after his plane was shot down over Berlin in April 1943, and he spent a year in prisoner of war camps.

Now Bussel volunteers at the VA hospital in Montrose, helping other veterans file for benefits.

Bussel said the change will help them.

He said one man he worked with, who served in Vietnam, was denied a PTSD claim because he was classified as a cook.

When the man shipped out, he was told, "We eat C-rations here," and was issued a weapon. Years later, that classification got him denied benefits because it was presumed he was not in direct combat.

"It's amazing," said Robert Kingsley, 27, of Goshen, Orange County, who served with the Air Force in Iraq from March to September 2005.

"It's an enormous burden taken off guys who have so much other stuff on their mind," he said.

Kingsley said he receives benefits from the VA for tinnitus, a constant ringing in his ears, and a brain injury, but the PTSD claim he filed a year ago was recently denied because the name of a person he served with was misspelled.

Hall said that as chairman of the House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs, he introduced the Veterans Disability Benefits Claims Modernization Act of 2008, which included a provision to grant a presumption of service-connected disability to veterans diagnosed with PTSD who served in combat.

The provision, however, was removed from the final version of the bill, he said.

In February 2009, he introduced the Combat PTSD Act, which focused exclusively on creating a presumption of service-connected disability for veterans diagnosed with PTSD.

Hall said that in early 2009, he had a White House meeting with President Barack Obama, during which he presented the president with a copy of the bill.

In August 2009, the VA announced it was drafting this rule and began a public comment period.

Hall called the change a "big step forward for our veterans."