VA 1 Million Health Benefits: With the Department of Veterans Affairs announced on Tuesday that 1 million claims worth $5.7 billion had been granted to former service members, the delivery of compensation to veterans exposed to burn pits and other poisons during military duty hit a milestone.
Signed into law two years ago, the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act, or PACT Act, has provided services and benefits related to military service to almost 880,000 veterans and their survivors.
Texas was in first place with more than 110,000, then Florida at 88,000, and California at 74,000. Before an award is decided upon, veterans claiming benefits for a disease or injury sustained during military service are given a disability rating ranging from 0 to 100%.
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According to Stripes, the VA reports that a 70% average service-connected disability rating under the PACT Act translates into $20,000 in annual benefits. By fiscal 2025, the hazardous exposures fund for wounded veteran compensation is expected to pay out more than $24.5 billion, an increase of $4 billion from current year.
Bradford Blodgett, a Vietnam War veteran exposed to Agent Orange, had his VA disability claim approved among the one million others. Working on subterranean communication cables at Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base in Thailand during the conflict was Blodgett, a sergeant in the Air Force from 1966 to 1970.
Family members said he would watch American military aircraft fly overhead, sprinkling herbicide to remove the thick forest. His daughter Grace Blodgett said he passed away in January at the age of 82 in a Connecticut nursing home from multiple myeloma, an uncommon type of blood cancer.
But his daughter said his widow Anne Blodgett thanks the PACT Act for making his disability claim completed swiftly. Four months after Blodgett filed, in December 2022, his claim was granted. “My father’s cancer really changed over night from a dormant category to an extremely aggressive cancer,” Grace Blodgett said.
He was a patriot and a serviceman. But his later years were a misery because of Agent Orange and other defoliants. Through the PACT Act, Anne Blodgett is now getting survivor’s benefits.
The VA reports that over 70% of disability claims resulting from hazardous exposures had been turned down before the legislation was passed. Providing details on their diagnosis, years of duty, and place of service, qualified veterans may be accepted since the PACT Act was passed.
Veterans who came into touch with burn pits, asbestos, Agent Orange, and radioactive materials among other dangerous elements may be eligible for payments for particular medical issues without having to provide proof of the relationship. Announcing that a million claims were granted, the VA stated that the PACT Act had reduced the burden of proof needed to get disability compensation.
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The VA projects that by 2024, the approval rate will be over 75%. The PACT Act, so named for a battle medic who passed away from an uncommon kind of lung cancer, mandates that the Department of Veterans Affairs “presume” that exposure is a cause of some ailments, such as skin disorders, respiratory illnesses, and malignancies.
For qualification, veterans must have served at particular military posts and other designated sites both domestically and internationally.
Additionally eligible for free medical care in VA hospitals and clinics under the PACT Act are veterans. In a speech set for Tuesday afternoon in Nashua, New Hampshire, President Joe Biden was also planned to celebrate the historic accomplishment of one million benefit claims granted to vets.
Biden has declared that he thinks his son Beau Biden, a military veteran who passed away in 2015, was diagnosed with brain cancer because of toxins from fire pit smoke. Major Beau Biden participated in the military sites in Iraq that had huge burn pits while he was a member of the Delaware Army National Guard.
In 2023, veterans and their surviving family filed an unprecedented 2.4 million claims. And we are handling those claims at the quickest pace in history, VA Secretary Denis McDonough stated on Monday.
According to McDonough, the law represents the biggest benefit increase for veterans exposed to dangerous substances in many years. The VA is now contacting veterans who have submitted papers indicating their intention to apply for benefits to let them know about resources available at veterans organizations for completing their applications.
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For qualified veterans, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and any other combat zone after 9/11 are all covered by their service periods. Republican legislators have, however, objected to spending from the toxic exposures fund, claiming that it takes funds away from essential VA operations.
The chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, Rep. Mike Bost, R-Ill., questioned last month if the VA’s significant PACT Act allocations are impacting the way the agency delivers healthcare. The VA intends to reduce its full-time workforce by 10,000 by fiscal 2025.
The manner the VA is using public monies has to be seriously discussed. “The health care workforce is contracting, new hiring is frozen or reduced, and construction has plateaued at just two large projects,” he said.
