PACT Act in one year aided 340,000 ailing veterans and survivors, Biden says [View all]

One of the “most significant laws ever signed to help veterans” has already assisted over 340,000 former service members and their survivors seeking care for illnesses and cancers now presumed to be connected to open burn pits and other toxins, President Joe Biden said in Utah on Thursday as he marked one year since the law took effect.

There is no overall deadline to submit PACT Act-related claims, but the deadline to qualify for retroactive benefits dating back to the law’s enactment, which earlier had been set for Aug. 9, has been extended until Aug. 14.

Biden signed the Sgt 1st Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act, or the PACT Act, last August, expanding health care eligibility for up to 3.5 million post-9/11 veterans, and for those who served during the Vietnam and Cold War eras.

So far, $1.85 billion for PACT Act-related claims has been distributed to veterans and families, according to the administration.

The law also opened eligibility for Gulf War era, Vietnam era and veterans of earlier wars and military projects who were potentially exposed to a host of toxic substances, including tactical herbicides like Agent Orange, radiation from nuclear device testing or cleanup and contaminated drinking water.


https://www.govexec.com/defense/2023/08/pact-act-one-year-aided-340000-ailing-veterans-and-survivors-biden-says/389353/