VA health care expanding to all veterans exposed to toxins, hazards come March

In a major expansion of health care offerings, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) plans to roll out health care access to all veterans exposed to toxins and other hazards during their service as of March 5, 2024.

This will include millions of veterans, including those who served in the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, Iraq, Afghanistan or any other combat zone after 9/11. The most immediate boon to them is that, as a result, they will not first have to apply for VA benefits before gaining access to the improved health care offer. Even if they were not deployed, but were exposed to toxins during training or active duty in the U.S., veterans will be eligible to enroll.

The move was lauded by U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), a member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, and Chris Murphy (D-CT), in particular.

“This expanded eligibility corrects this historic wrong and ensures no veteran has to fight for benefits they rightly deserve,” Blumenthal said. “Our nation’s veterans put their lives on the line to serve our country and it is a matter of simple justice to ensure they have the best health care possible. We fought to pass the PACT Act for years and I couldn’t be happier that the Biden Administration has expanded eligibility to ensure every veteran suffering from the horrific and insidious diseases caused by burn pits and toxic chemicals has access to treatment.”

Many veterans were exposed to toxins merely through day-to-day activities, or by burn pits. Signed into law in 2022, the PACT Act sought to deliver relief to post-9/11 veterans exposed to burn pits and fix a nearly 80 percent rejection rate faced by affected veterans seeking claims. The next expansion, however, strikes that act’s phased-in approach and instead ups eligibility immediately, providing some veterans access to health care up to eight years earlier than originally written into law.

Blumenthal helped author some of the provisions of the PACT Act.

“Thanks to the PACT Act, today’s announcement from the VA marks the largest-ever expansion of veteran health care,” Murphy said. “Starting March 5th, the brave men and women who may have been exposed to toxic chemicals and burn pits during their service can skip the red tape and directly enroll in VA health care.”

As of Feb. 16, 2024, the VA reported it had processed 694,750 PACT Act-based claims from veterans or their surviving families.