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VA Benefits and Health Care for Burn Pits Exposure

Toxic Exposure—Burn Pits

Service members have encountered harmful substances through their everyday military duties for generations. Wide-ranging illnesses may show symptoms immediately or may cause long-term damaging effects that go unnoticed for many years—decades, in some cases—until they pose major health concerns for veterans.

But help is now available.

Thanks to the groundbreaking advocacy efforts of DAV, the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act became a landmark law that ushered in a new era for veterans affected by toxic exposure.

What is the PACT Act?

The PACT Act the largest and most comprehensive toxic-exposure legislation ever considered and was signed into law on Aug. 10, 2022. The historic bill expands Department of Veterans Affairs benefits and health care to millions of veterans exposed to various toxic substances, including burn pits, and lists illnesses and conditions with presumptive status.

What is presumptive service connection?

The VA will presume a veteran’s military service caused specific diagnosed diseases. This policy is based on the unique situation of a veteran’s service, such as service in certain locations and exposure to certain hazards. This lifts the undue burden of proving exposure away from veterans and unlocks their earned benefits, including disability compensation.

What are the PACT Act presumptive conditions?

For toxic-exposed veterans, the law added more than 20 presumptive conditions related to toxic exposures, including certain cancers, asthma and other respiratory conditions. Hypertension and monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) are presumptive conditions for veterans who served in Vietnam, as are conditions linked to radiation exposure for veterans who served in eligible locations in the 1960s and 1970s.

A full list of illnesses is available on this VA website.

When and how should I apply for VA benefits under the PACT Act?

Now! The VA is accepting claims for all presumptive illnesses included in the PACT Act. DAV benefits advocates are ready to assist with claims. You can contact one near you by going to benefitsquestions.org.

Even if you were denied your disability claim in the past, you can file a supplemental claim if your condition is considered presumptive by the VA.

 

Get VA Benefits Claim Assistance Now

Contact your nearest DAV office. They will help you file a claim and stick with you all through the process, because no veteran should have to go at it alone.

Does the PACT Act provide benefits for survivors?

Yes. Surviving spouses, dependent children or dependent parents of a deceased veteran may be eligible for benefits, including monthly VA Dependency and Indemnity Compensation payments. To file a claim, surviving family members should contact a DAV benefits advocate using the link above.

Burn pits and other airborne hazards

DAV was the first to bring the hazards of burn pits to light in 2007 and has made further research into these exposures an ongoing legislative priority. In 2010, lawmakers banned the military from using burn pits except where there was no feasible alternative. At DAV’s behest, in 2013, Congress mandated the creation of the VA’s Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry, and the 2018 defense-spending bill required the VA to coordinate further research on the effects of burn pits.

Burning waste has been a standard operating procedure in expeditionary environments throughout history. In Southeast Asia, human waste was burned daily and released an array of pollutants into the air, including particulate matter and known carcinogens. However, there is a misconception that burn pit exposure only affects post-9/11 veterans.

Burn pits were used the First Gulf War (1990–1991) in Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. During the Bosnian War in 1995 and 1996, burn pits were considered an operational necessity during combat operations. Since Sept. 11, 2001, burn pits have been used throughout operations in Afghanistan and Djibouti, as well as in Iraq.

If you are a veteran or service member who deployed to the Southwest Asia theater of operations on or after Aug. 2, 1990, or deployed to Afghanistan or Djibouti after Sept. 11, 2001, you can use the Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry questionnaire to report exposures to airborne hazards (including smoke from burn pits, oil-well fires or other pollution), as well as other exposures and health concerns.

Registering can help you identify changes in your health, guide discussions with your health care provider, and learn about follow-up care or VA benefits.

For any questions about VA health care or benefits, please contact your nearest DAV service office by visiting: benefitsquestions.org.

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