By Larry Dandridge
This is Article 2 of five answering veterans’ frequently asked questions on veterans’ healthcare, the PACT Act, VA priority groups, VA copays, the VA’s Foreign Medical Program, and family and caregiver benefits.
Last week’s article (See https://www.yourislandnews.com and click on MILITARY) covered what veterans and their family members need to know about VA-accredited Veterans Service Officers (VSOs). This week’s article will provide information on “The Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act.”
What is the PACT ACT?
According to the VA webpage “The PACT Act and Your VA Benefits” at https://bit.ly/3UAmx8k, the PACT Act is a law that expands VA health care and benefits for veterans exposed to burn pits, Agent Orange, and other toxic substances. This law helps the VA provide generations of veterans and their survivors (See https://bit.ly/45qfe9E) with the care and benefits they have earned and deserve. Starting March 5, 2024, the VA expanded VA health care to millions of veterans.
How did the PACT ACT affect veterans’ VA benefits and care?
The PACT Act is the VA’s largest expansion of health care and benefits. The PACT Act brought these welcomed changes:
- Expanded and extended eligibility for VA health care for veterans with toxic exposures and veterans of the Vietnam, Gulf War, and post-9/11 eras.
- Added 20-plus more presumptive conditions for burn pits, Agent Orange, and other toxic exposures.
- Added more presumptive-exposure locations for Agent Orange and radiation.
- Required the VA to provide a toxic exposure screening to every veteran enrolled in VA health care and follow-up screening every five years after. Veterans who are not enrolled, but who are eligible to enroll, will have the opportunity to enroll and receive screening. Learn more at the VA “Environmental Health Registry Evaluation” webpage https://bit.ly/4oG8snC.
- Helped the VA improve research, staff education, and treatment related to toxic exposures.
- Improved the decision-making process for determining what medical conditions will be considered for presumptive status.
- Required research studies on the mortality of veterans who served in SW Asia during the Gulf War, Post 9-11 Veteran Health trends, and veteran cancer rates.
- Authorized 31 new facilities across the country, providing greater access to VA healthcare.
What does it mean to have a presumptive condition for toxic exposure?
Veterans can view military exposure categories on the VA’s Public Health website at https://bit.ly/3HGa3Jq. Specifically:
- To get a VA disability rating, your disability must connect to your military service. For many health conditions, you need to prove that your service caused your condition.
- But for some conditions, the VA automatically assumes (or “presumes”) that your service caused your condition. The VA calls these “presumptive conditions.”
- The VA considers a condition presumptive when it is established by law or regulation.
- If a veteran has a presumptive condition, the veteran does not need to prove that the condition was caused by military service. The veteran only needs to meet the service requirements for the presumption.
Learn more about exposure to hazardous materials (HAZMAT) on the VA webpage “Exposure to Hazardous Chemicals and Materials” at https://bit.ly/3HBAAYq and the VA’s newsletter “Military Exposures & Your Health” at https://bit.ly/3UAIgNC.
Veterans may qualify for VA disability compensation for PRESUMPTIVE illnesses or conditions linked to exposure to the following:
- Chemical/biological testing or Agent Orange (including Veterans’ Children’s birth defects).
- Burn pits and other environmental hazards in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other areas.
- Mustard gas or Lewisite (a toxic gas), or Camp Lejeune contaminated drinking water.
- Asbestos or Gulf War Illnesses in Southwest Asia or Afghanistan.
- Project 112 or Project SHAD (Shipboard Hazard & Defense) or Radiation.
New presumptive conditions
Additionally, the VA announced on January 8, 2025, via VA News a https://bit.ly/41fSXst that it made acute and chronic leukemias, multiple myelomas, myelodysplastic syndromes, myelofibrosis, urinary bladder, ureter, and related genitourinary cancers presumptive for Gulf War and Post-9/11 veterans.
What should veterans do?
The most significant expansion of VA healthcare ever took place during the Biden Administration and under the PACT ACT. With the current administration firing tens of thousands of VA employees and canceling hundreds of VA research and support contracts, now is the time for veterans to file their claims for service-connected disability compensation and sign up for VA healthcare before claims processing is slowed and before services are negatively impacted. Veterans who have never filed for a presumptive condition should:
- Read the information on the VA’s webpage “All Things PACT Act 101 (PPACT Act Overview)” at https://bit.ly/473Hr7f and make an appointment to see their local VA-accredited Veterans Service Officer (VSO).
- Read the information at the VA’s website at https://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/ and make an appointment with their VA Medical Center or Community-Based Outpatient Clinic to have a Toxic Exposure Screening.
- Ask a VA-accredited VSO to help them file a claim for any wound, injury, illness, or condition that he or she suffers from that was caused or worsened by or is secondary to their disabling military service-connected condition. Learn more at the VA webpage “How to File a VA Disability Claim” at https://www.va.gov/disability/how-to-file-claim/.
- Ask a VA-accredited VSO to help them file a supplemental claim (See https://bit.ly/4mNyXpn) for the presumptive condition that was previously denied but is now considered presumptive.
- Ask a VA-accredited VSO to help them enroll in VA Healthcare, the nation’s largest integrated healthcare system, which is according to NIH, the Journal of General Internal Medicine, the Journal of American College of Surgeons, the Joint Commission, and many others as good as or better than non-VA care in terms of clinical quality, safety, infection prevention, and other metrics.
What should veterans’ survivors do?
Under the PACT Act and other VA benefit programs, survivors (spouse, children, and sometimes parents) may be eligible for VA benefits, including Dependency and Indemnity Compensation, Burial Benefits, Bereavement Counseling, Survivors’ Pension, Life Insurance, DOD Death Gratuity, Home Loan Guaranty, Survivors/Children’s Educational Assistance, Marine Gunnery Sergeant John David Fry Scholarship, Civilian Health and Medical Program/CHAMPVA, Accrued Benefits, and more.
Survivors should make an appointment with their local VA-accredited VSO. They should ask the VSO to review their VA and state veterans benefits with them and help them apply for those valuable benefits. Learn more at www.va,gov/suvivors and by reading the “VA Survivor Benefits and Services Guide” at https://bit.ly/4oJtlhQ.
Continued next week.
Larry Dandridge is a Vietnam War wounded warrior, disabled veteran, ex-Enlisted Infantryman, ex-Warrant Officer Pilot, and retired Lt. Colonel. He is a past Veterans Service Officer, a Patient Adviser at the RHJ VA Hospital, the Fisher House Charleston Good Will Ambassador, and the VP for Veteran Affairs for the local Army Association Chapter. Larry is also the author of the award-winning Blades of Thunder (Book One) and a contributing freelance writer with the Island News. Contact him at LDandridge@earthlink.net or 843-276-7164.
