Veterans who were exposed to burn pits, Agent Orange, and other toxic substances while serving may be eligible for more benefits under a new law called the Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act. It’s the most significant expansion of benefits and services for toxic-exposed veterans in more than three decades.
The PACT Act expands toxic exposure research and analysis of post-9/11 veterans’ health trends. It also requires that veterans enrolled in VA healthcare receive regular screenings for toxic exposure-related concerns.
US Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough toured Texas cities this week urging veterans, their families, and survivors to file claims and seek care through the VA. He spoke with TPR’s military and veterans’ issues reporter Carson Frame.
For more information about the latest VA benefits, call 1-800-myVA411 or visit va.gov/pact.
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Frame: For people who aren't familiar, what is the PACT Act, the reason in part for your visit to San Antonio?
McDonough: The PACT Act is a new law that was signed by President Biden last year in August. And it does two really important things. For Vietnam veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange when they were on deployment in Vietnam, if they have hypertension today, if they have high blood pressure today, we now have an ability to get them additional care and additional benefits. It also says that if you're one of the thousands of Texans who served in Central Command from 1991 in the first Gulf War until 2021 at the end of the Afghan war, you may have been exposed to toxins from burn pits and you may now, as a result, qualify for additional care and additional benefits at VA.
Frame: That's a lot of new claims for the Department of Veterans Affairs to process. How are you handling that, in terms of staffing and training?
McDonough: So we've been preparing for this moment going back to about October 2021. We've been hiring additional personnel to review those claims. We've added about 5,000 new personnel. We feel very duty bound to ensure that we get these claims resolved accurately and quickly for our veterans.
Frame: I wanted to talk a little bit about the clinical care that VA is providing for veterans who were exposed to toxins. Many are very, very sick at this point after years of struggling without much in the way of medical or financial help. Do you feel confident that VA has the capacity to offer the kind of acute care that they may need, and to get them into the system quickly enough?
McDonough: Yes, I do. I just want to urge veterans: If you've been exposed to toxins, if you're feeling sick today, make sure you contact us right away. We will make sure that we get you into care so we can determine what more you might need. So far, we've had about 83,000 new veterans coming into our care as a result of the PACT Act. And we are very well positioned to manage that care, either in our direct care system or in some cases, we will refer our veterans into the private care system.
Frame: What steps is VA taking to rebuild trust with veterans who have experienced toxic exposures? In many cases they've had very negative dealings with the VA in which their symptoms were minimized, downplayed… They've had to go through a real rigmarole to be seen as legitimate.
McDonough: It is true, and we want to recognize that. We have not always met the high standard that we hold ourselves to in ensuring access for veterans to claims and to care. That's why we're going out of our way to make sure that we reach veterans and survivors and families where they are.
