From Military.com:
“Veterans
Can Start Filing New Claims Now for 23 Illnesses Covered Under New Law”
The Department
of Veterans Affairs has established a website explaining the details of the
Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring Our Promise to Address
Comprehensive Toxics, or PACT, Act, and encourages veterans to file claims and
apply for health care coverage. The bill, expected to be signed into law Monday
by President Joe Biden in a Rose Garden ceremony at the White House, provides
health care and disability benefits for certain deployment-related diseases and
conditions. On Tuesday, VA Secretary Denis McDonough encouraged affected
veterans, their family members or survivors to apply for benefits by filing a
claim. "Once the President signs this bill into law, we at VA will
implement it quickly and effectively, delivering the care these veterans need
and the benefits they deserve," McDonough said in a statement to the
press.
The PACT Act
was approved by the Senate late Tuesday in an 86-11 vote, the culmination of a
monthslong congressional effort to bring the legislation across the proverbial
finish line. In his State of the Union Address in January, Biden vowed to help
veterans with exposure-related illnesses, calling it a "sacred
obligation." Following Senate approval of the bill, Biden released a
statement saying passage was a "decisive and bipartisan win for America's
veterans." "For the millions of veterans who may have been exposed to
harmful toxins, this bill means quicker access to health care services and
other benefits," Biden said. "This could be the difference between
life and death for many suffering from toxic-related illnesses." Terri
Tanielian, special assistant to the president for veterans affairs, said
Wednesday that the bill includes provisions and resources for the VA to process
claims more quickly, including an automated system that will expedite claims
filed for certain conditions.
Currently, the
VA has 595,862 claims filed by veterans that are pending; that includes 164,743
considered backlogged, or pending for more than 125 days. The PACT Act is
expected to add thousands of more claims, from former service members who were
diagnosed with one or more of 23 illnesses listed in the new legislation as
presumed to be related to airborne toxins. Those will range from Vietnam-era
veterans with hypertension to monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined
significance, to veterans exposed to Agent Orange who previously couldn't file
a claim because they were assigned to locations that weren't identified as
having stored or used toxic herbicides. But Tanielian said the department will
be ready. "The department is planning to be able to lean in. They have
been working on hiring more claims processors and looking at additional ways to
do more to automate claims. If they can [do that], the timeline will be much
shorter," Tanielian said in an interview with Military.com.
The bill could
help roughly 3.5 million veterans access health care in the coming years. The
PACT Act extends the period for post-9/11 combat veterans to enroll in VA
health care from five years to 10 and also includes a one-year open enrollment
for combat veterans who fall outside that time frame. It expedites claims for
more than 20 specific conditions and removes a requirement that afflicted
veterans and their survivors prove service connection for 11 specific
respiratory conditions and several types of cancer, including reproductive
cancers, melanoma, pancreatic cancer, kidney cancer and brain cancers. Survivors
of veterans who died due to one of these conditions may now also be eligible
for benefits, according to a White House press release. In addition to expanding
benefits for post-9/11 veterans, the agreement announced Wednesday broadens
coverage for Vietnam-era veterans exposed to Agent Orange. Specifically, it
would add Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Guam, American Samoa and Johnston Atoll to
the list of places where veterans were exposed to Agent Orange and so can get
coverage. Tanielian said the legislation is going to draw more patients into
the VA's health care system, where "they will receive high-quality
integrated health care." "The President has made specific commitments
about ensuring that we can continue to deliver world-class health care to
veterans by releasing additional rules and guidance to improve and expand
access to services," Tanielian said.
The VA's new
website for the PACT Act can be found here. Veterans, family members and
survivors also can call (800) 698-2411 to have their questions answered. The
hearing impaired can access information through 711 via teletypewriter. "We'll
be communicating with you every step of the way to make sure that you and your
loved ones get the benefits you've earned," McDonough said while
announcing the new webpage and phone number.
^ I am happy that
this bill passed and will soon be signed into law as it will help so many
Veterans. I just hope the VA is able to handle all their current and all of these
new claims since they haven’t done such a good job in the past. ^
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.