Veterans file half a million claims for benefits due to toxic exposure

Veterans have filed 500,000 claims for benefits because of toxic exposure, the Biden administration announced Wednesday.

After the passage of the Promise to Address Comprehensive To Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act last August, more than 500,000 claims for benefits have been filed by veterans to receive expanded healthcare and benefits. Veterans who have been exposed to burn pits, radioactive material, herbicide and other toxic materials have now been eligible for increased benefits, a major expansion of health care for veterans in recent years.

The Department of Veterans Affairs announced Wednesday that the department has awarded more than $1 billion in earned benefits to those who filed claims related to the PACT Act. The department also said that more than 3 million veterans have received toxic exposure screenings since President Biden signed the law last summer, with more than 40 percent saying they were concerned about toxic exposure.

The department added that more than 215,000 veterans have signed up for Veterans Affairs health care during that same period, noting that number is a 15 percent increase from the same period last year.

“Thanks to President Biden, the millions of Veterans who fought our wars for the past 30 years — who breathed in debris from sandstorms, fumes from burning trash, and more while overseas — are now taken care of for the conditions that followed them home from war,” Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough said in a statement. 

“We’re proud that 500,000+ Veterans and survivors have applied for their hard-earned benefits to date, but we won’t rest until every Veteran and every survivor gets the VA health care and benefits they deserve,” the secretary added.

The issue of toxic exposure to burn pits is a personal issue for Biden, who has suggested that his son Beau Biden’s exposure to burn pits in Iraq may have been the cause of the brain cancer he died from in 2015.

“Our veterans represent the very best of us. But for far too many of our men and women in uniform, their military service involved exposure to hazardous environments and substances—exposures that could lead to harmful health effects including cancer, respiratory illnesses, or hypertension,” Biden said in a statement Wednesday.

Biden also said in his statement that House Republicans’ proposals aim to cut Veterans Affairs programs, which could result in delays in health care for many veterans.

“My Administration is processing claims at record rates, and is delivering on our sacred obligation to care for America’s veterans and their families,” he said. “But that work hangs in the balance with Republican Members of Congress’ proposals to drastically cut VA programs, resulting in significant increases in backlogs and tens of millions fewer health care visits – harming those the PACT Act most aims to help.”

Veterans of Foreign Affairs (VFW) Washington Executive Director Ryan Gallucci sent a letter to Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Tuesday demanding that he honors the promises of the PACT Act in new budget proposals, noting that the VFW has “grave concerns” about returning to fiscal year 2022 funding levels.

“Bills aiming to return the budget to FY22 funding levels, without explicitly securing care and benefit programs for veterans are intolerable to our organization,” he wrote. “The service members, veterans, and families we represent have seen the true cost of more than 20 years of war, and it is unacceptable to ask them to now pay the bill.”

The Hill has reached out to McCarthy’s office for comment.