The PACT Act is a historic new law that will help VA provide health care and benefits to millions of toxic-exposed veterans and their survivors. Since President Biden signed the PACT Act into law on Aug. 10, VA has been hard at work implementing this landmark bipartisan legislation — and veterans have already begun to apply for the benefits they’ve earned and deserve.

Here’s an update on what’s happened since Aug. 10:

Veterans are applying for the PACT Act benefits they deserve

The day after the PACT Act was signed into law (Aug. 11), veterans set an all-time record for filing online disability compensation claims. Since the PACT Act was signed, veterans have filed more than 200,000 total claims — an increase of more than 21% over the same period last year. And to date, VA has already received more than 70,000 PACT Act-related claims from veterans since Aug. 10.

Thousands of veterans participated in toxic exposure screening pilot

As a part of the PACT Act, VA will begin providing 5-minute toxic exposure screenings to all veterans enrolled in VA health care. On Sept. 6, VA began a pilot of this program — screening 13,380 veterans across 12 medical centers over a two-week period, and finding a 37.4% concern of exposure among those veterans. These results will help VA make toxic exposure screenings available to all veterans in early November, and more importantly, make sure that VA provides all toxic-exposed veterans with the care they need and the benefits they deserve.

VA expedited the timeline to deliver benefits to veterans as soon as possible

Instead of phasing-in conditions over the coming years (as outlined in the legislation), the Biden Administration decided to make all conditions in the PACT Act presumptive for benefits as of Aug. 10, 2022, the day the bill was signed into law. We will begin processing these benefits on the earliest date possible, which is Jan. 1.

VA will expand health care eligibility in October

On Oct. 1, VA will expand and extend eligibility for VA health care for certain veterans of the Gulf Wars and post-9/11 era. This expansion will increase health care eligibility for hundreds of thousands of toxic-exposed veterans. Additionally, VA has already expanded health care eligibility for certain veterans of the Vietnam War. More detailed information about this expansion can be found on VA.gov/PACT.

Meeting veterans where they are

Within minutes of the PACT Act passing the Senate, VA launched VA.gov/PACT — a one-stop-shop website where veterans and their families can learn about the PACT Act and apply for health care or benefits. This website, which is available in English and Spanish, has garnered nearly 2.5 million views to date.

Apply now. VA encourages veterans and survivors to apply now for the PACT Act-related benefits and care they deserve. All veterans and survivors can go to VA.gov/PACT or call us at 1-800-MYVA411 to learn more about what this legislation means for them.

For more information, go to VeteransHelpnet.com and see the “Resource Directory” section or contact Kootenai Regional Veterans Service Center at 1-208-446-1090.