08/09/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 08/09/2024 11:35
Two years ago, President Biden signed the landmark bipartisan Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act into law, enacting the most significant expansion of benefits and services for toxic exposed veterans and their survivors in more than 30 years. Named in honor of Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson, a decorated combat medic who died from a rare form of lung cancer, this historic legislation is delivering timely benefits and services to veterans-across all generations-who have been impacted by toxic exposures while serving our country.
The Biden-Harris Administration believes our nation has a sacred obligation to properly prepare and equip the troops we send into harm's way - and to care for them and their families when they return home. That includes making sure we address the visible and invisible injuries of war. Too often, military service can result in increased health risks for our veterans, and some injuries and illnesses like asthma, cancer, and others can take years to manifest. These realities can make it difficult for veterans and their survivors to establish a direct connection between their service and disabilities resulting from military environmental exposures such as burn pits - a necessary step to ensuring they receive the benefits they earned. The PACT Act eliminates these barriers and ensures veterans get the care and services they deserve. For survivors of veterans who died from a toxic related illness, the PACT Act provides a pathway to benefits including monthly stipends, access to home loans and education benefits as well. Surviving veteran spouses with children could qualify for over $2,000 per month and funding toward college tuition.
Thanks to the PACT Act the Biden-Harris Administration has helped veterans in every state and territory receive the services and care they deserve by:
Delivering benefits to veterans and their survivors: Since enactment of the PACT Act, VA has delivered new PACT Act related disability benefits to more than 1 million veterans and over 10,000 survivors of veterans who died of a toxic related illness. This amounts to more than $6.8 billion in earned PACT Act related benefits over the past two years. In total, VA has processed over 1.5 million PACT Act claims since August 10, 2022. Thanks in part to the PACT Act, VA is delivering benefits to veterans and their survivors at the fastest rate in history, processing more than 2 million total claims (both PACT and non-PACT Act combined) thus far in 2024 - an all-time record.
Delivering health care to veterans:Since Aug. 10, 2022, 739,421 veterans have enrolled in VA health care - a 33% increase over the previous two-year period. This includes more than 333,767 enrollees from the PACT Act population (Vietnam, Gulf War, and Post-9/11 veterans). This health care enrollment was made possible by the Biden-Harris administration to accelerate health care eligibility under the PACT Act, eliminating a phase-in period that would have prevented veterans from enrolling in VA care for several years.
Screening veterans for toxic exposures: Nearly 5.7 million veterans have received free screenings for toxic exposures from VA under the PACT Act - a critical step in catching and treating potentially life-threatening health conditions as early as possible.
Prioritizing veterans with cancer: As a part of President Biden's Cancer Moonshot, VA has prioritized claims processing for veterans with cancer - delivering over $744 million in PACT Act benefits to veterans with cancer. VA also prioritizes claims for veterans with terminal illnesses and veterans experiencing homelessness.
Lowering burden of proof to help toxic exposed veterans.Nearly 16,000 veterans who supported operations in Afghanistan between 2001 and 2005 were stationed at Karshi-Khanabad (K2) in Uzbekistan where several contaminants that could lead to health problems were present in either the air, water, soil, or soil gas. VA plans to take steps to consider veterans who served in Uzbekistan as Persian Gulf Veterans so that any veteran who served at K2 and who experience undiagnosed illness and medically unexplained chronic multi-symptom illnesses can get the benefits they deserve. VA will also create new training materials for claims processors and examiners on the hazards identified at K2. These steps are intended to help lessen the burden on veterans who were stationed at K2 so that they can receive disability benefits. Additionally, because K2 Veterans are eligible for VA health care and benefits under the PACT act, VA is also reaching out to all veterans who served at K2 to encourage them to apply for health care and benefits today.
Releasing a new federal interagency strategy to address military toxic exposures and veteran health. The Office of Science and Technology released a bold plan that aims to provide the evidence for new exposure-related illnesses to enable veterans to get the health care and benefits they need and deserve. This will be achieved through coordinated interagency efforts to: understand toxic exposures during military service; establish the link between these toxic exposures and veteran illnesses; and identify tools and approaches to reduce toxic exposures and improve health screening for these exposure-related illnesses.
Sharpening research tools to drive continued improvements to veteran care. This month, VA launched a new streamlined Burn Pit Registry. The registry includes non-personally identifiable data on more than 4.7 million veterans and Service members which will drive research, advances in treatment efficacy, and policies to identify potential conditions for presumptive status under the PACT Act. The new registry will streamline reporting for veterans who are willing to share data, drastically increasing VA's ability to pursue research-backed solutions in service of America's veterans.
Protecting veterans, service members, and their families from predatory actors and fraud. In 2023, veterans, Service members, and their families reported $477M in losses to fraud. Last November, President Biden announced the Veteran, Service member, and Family-Fraud Evasion (VSAFE) Task Force to better protect veterans and their families against scams and fraud. Over the last year, the Task Force has worked to implement a "no wrong door" approach for veterans and Service members to access reporting tools and resources to combat fraud. Today, VSAFE is releasing several resources to support veterans, Service members, and their families when they experience fraud, scams, and predatory practices, including:
These historic efforts to address military toxic exposures build on the Biden-Harris Administration's recent work to support our nation's veterans:
If you are a veteran, visit www.va.gov/PACT or go to your local VA hospital to see if you are eligible for PACT Act benefits and services.
For a state-by-state breakdown of PACT Act data, click here.
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