WASHINGTON, D.C. — Lawmakers want to make sure veterans who were exposed to toxins while serving our country are getting the benefits required under a new law. The Department of Veterans Affairs has been processing these PACT Act claims for almost six months now. It updated Congress on how the implementation of the law is going.
VA officials and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle agree on at least one thing when it comes to the PACT Act.
“We’re dealing with veterans who in some cases have waited decades for these benefits and in some cases are dealing with terminal illnesses,” Joshua Jacobs, Under Secretary for Benefits for the VA, said.
>>> STREAM CHANNEL 9 EYEWITNESS NEWS LIVE <<<
Jacobs relayed the story of one Marine Corps vet named Benito, who suffers from asthma and chronic bronchitis. Jacobs told lawmakers Benito’s prior claims those conditions were connected to his service were denied. He recently filed a claim under the new law, and now gets benefits because of it.
It’s a success story of the implementation of this law. VA officials said they’re working to make it the standard, but there’s a lot to be done.
So far veterans have filed nearly 570,000 claims of exposure stemming from their service. They say they breathed in toxins from things like burn pits and burning oil fields. The VA has completed processing over 280,000 of those claims. It’s a lot, but they’re only about halfway through the total and there’s a backlog.
Read: Missing Orange County man found dead in car pulled from retention pond
So, the department is hiring and improving employees training.
“We’re pushing more employees so that there are more people to do the work and it’s also why we’re investing in things like technology so that our employees are more efficient and effective,” Jacobs explained.
Advocates want to see a focus on underserved populations and those who might distrust the system after prior denials.
Read: ‘Climate of fear’: Pride events canceled after DeSantis signs laws targeting LGBTQ+ community
“We have a really incredible tool that we’ve developed that enables us to identify on a county-by-county basis the percentage of veterans in individual locations that are receiving benefits or not, so we can identify those underserved populations to try to target our outreach efforts there,” Jacobs said.
Communication is now a priority.
“The PACT act is a once-in-a-lifetime, once-in-a-generation opportunity, but it doesn’t do anyone any good if they don’t know about it,” Jacobs added.
Read: All-time NFL great running back, social activist Jim Brown dead at 87
You can file a claim and find more information here.
Click here to download the free WFTV news and weather apps, click here to download the WFTV Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
©2023 Cox Media Group
