#Middlebury #Veterans #PACTAct #Toxins
VETERANS POST
By Freddy Groves
Expanded benefits for the PACT Act have kicked in years sooner than expected. As of recently, March 5, 2024, veterans who were exposed to toxins can get VA health care without applying for VA disability benefits first.
The PACT Act covers over 20 presumptive illnesses for exposure to Agent Orange and other toxins, as well as the burn pits, radiation, oil well fires, depleted uranium and more. The covered illnesses include emphysema, chronic bronchitis, a dozen types of cancer and interstitial lung disease. Deployment wasn’t necessary; veterans were exposed to asbestos, firefighting foam, paints, chemicals, pesticides, Camp Lejeune water and more here in the U.S.
If you filed before and were turned down, file again or call. The VA is supposed to go through the files and contact you, but don’t wait on that.
If you’re already enrolled in VA health care, call your local VA health facility and ask for your initial screening for toxin exposure. Don’t wait on this; get a baseline test.
To get more information, call 800-698-2411 (800-MYVA411). Or go online to VA.gov/PACT and scroll through the information. You’ll find links to file for VA disability, a supplemental claim and more. Read about military exposures at www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures.
For all the millions the VA has spent to inform veterans about PACT, there are some they’re leaving out: members of the Maine National Guard who trained at the Canadian military support base in Gagetown, New Brunswick, Canada. In 1966 and 1967, the place was saturated with Agents Orange and Purple as a means of testing effectiveness in killing foliage.
In 2005, the Canadian government did site testing of the ground, water and air. They ended up handing out money to Canadians who’d been there.
Gagetown is still used for National Guard training, not only for units from Maine but other states as well. People became ill, of course, from exposure, but they’re not eligible for VA health care for exposure to Agent Orange or any of the other “rainbow” of toxin colors at Gagetown.
© 2024 King Features Synd., Inc.
