Veterans are eligible for compensation and other disability benefits, especially if they acquired an injury during their years of service. One of the most recent changes in Veterans Affairs (VA) is the passing of a benefit that gives each veteran new options for health care and disability payments.
The Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act, or PACT Act, is a legislative rule that covers various types of illnesses related to chemical exposures. The PACT Act update added various other presumptive conditions that veterans may have been exposed to, such as burn pits, Agent Orange, and other toxic related substances, to which every veteran is encouraged to apply.
But besides exposure to burn pits and Agent Orange, what are the other hazardous conditions that are covered by the PACT Act? Let us investigate in this blogpost.
Conditions covered for PACT ACT
Eligibility for VA disability claims and ratings must be service-related. Under a different regulation, there are a number of health conditions that will require complete proof that your medical conditions are caused by being in the active line of duty.
However, some medical conditions warrant automatic presumed conditions attributed to your service. These are known as “presumptive conditions,” which are only considered when a medical condition is assumed to be related to a specific line of service, therefore requiring an established law or regulation, in this case the updated PACT ACT summary.
Here are some of the services and the presumed conditions associated with them:
The Gulf War and Post 9/11,
- Brain cancer
- Gastrointestinal cancer of any type
- Glioblastoma
- Head cancer of any type
- Kidney cancer
- Lymphatic cancer of any type
- Lymphoma of any type
- Melanoma
- Neck cancer of any type
- Pancreatic cancer
- Reproductive cancer of any type
- Respiratory (breathing-related) cancer of any type
- Asthma (if diagnosed after service, eligibility is counted)
- Chronic bronchitis
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
- Chronic rhinitis
- Chronic sinusitis
- Constrictive bronchiolitis or obliterative bronchiolitis
- Emphysema
- Granulomatous disease
- Interstitial lung disease (ILD)
- Pleuritis
- Pulmonary fibrosis
- Sarcoidosis
Vietnam War (mainly due to exposure to Agent Orange)
- High blood pressure (also called hypertension)
- Monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS)
- Bladder cancer
- Chronic B-cell leukemia
- Hodgkin’s disease
- Multiple myeloma
- Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
- Prostate cancer
- Respiratory cancers (including lung cancer)
- Some soft tissue sarcomas
The PACT Act bill added new presumptive conditions, and there are various other health conditions that VA presumes are the results of exposure to toxic or hazardous materials.
Updates about PACT ACT
PACT Act 2023 will bring various modifications to its regulations compared to PACT Act 2022, which include the following:
- Expands and extends VA health care eligibility for veterans with toxic exposures, as well as veterans from the Vietnam, Gulf War, and post-9/11 eras.
- Increases the number of presumptive conditions for burn pits, Agent Orange, and other toxic exposures by over 20.
- Increases the number of presumptive-exposure locations for Agent Orange and radiation.
- Every veteran enrolled in VA health care must receive a toxic exposure screening and a five-year follow-up screening. Veterans who are not enrolled but are eligible will still be able to do so and receive the screening.
- Aids in the advancement of toxic exposure research, staff education, and treatment.
- Authorization of 31 new facilities across the country, to make VA healthcare more accessible for veterans
- If you are a Veteran or survivor, you can file claims for PACT Act-related benefits right now.
Understanding these updates and the PACT Act benefits can give you the idea for a seamless application for the PACT Act benefits. However, in some circumstances, if you are struggling to process these, we are here for you.
Applying for PACT ACT benefits
The Department of Veterans Affairs highly encourages all veterans and survivors to claim their VA benefits, for which they have already started processing the updated PACT Act benefits since January 2023.
If applications for the benefits are delayed at any time during the next year, the VA office will most likely backdate your benefits to the date of the bill signing.
Just4Veterans was established to help veterans file their disability claims with less hassle. You may visit our webpage here so you can avail of and understand the services that we provide.
After you served our country, it is now our turn to serve you. If you have any further questions about PACT Act or disability claims, you may reach us at [email protected] or book a strategy call here to learn more about your VA ratings.
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