After a lengthy fight by Veterans and their advocates, the U.S. Congress passed and President Biden recently signed the PACT Act, also known as the “Burn Pit Bill.”

According to media reports, “President Joe Biden called the PACT Act the ‘biggest expansion of benefits for service-connected health issues’ in 30 years, adding that it’s the largest bill ever addressing exposure to burn pits. Those burn pits have caused rare respiratory conditions and cancers with service members who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Veterans have faced challenges getting coverage for those related illnesses, but this bill will change that, impacting about 3.5 million Veterans across the nation.”

It’s the right thing to do. And it’s overdue.

More than 150,000 of Minnesota’s more than 304,000 Veterans could benefit from this new legislation. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (USDVA) shares on their website: “The PACT Act is a new law that expands VA healthcare and benefits for Veterans exposed to burn pits and other toxic substances. This law helps us provide generations of Veterans—and their survivors—with the care and benefits they’ve earned and deserve.”

The PACT Act will bring these changes:

• Expands and extends eligibility for VA healthcare for Veterans with toxic exposures and Veterans of the Vietnam, Gulf War and Post-9/11 eras.
• Adds 23 new presumptive conditions for burn pits and other toxic exposures. Note that if you are a Vietnam Veteran with hypertension, you should connect with your CVSO to update your claim.
• Adds more presumptive-exposure locations for Agent Orange and radiation.
• Requires the VA to provide a toxic exposure screening to every Veteran enrolled in VA healthcare.
• Helps improve research, staff education, and treatment related to toxic exposures.

If you’re a Veteran or survivor, you can file claims now to apply for PACT Act-related benefits.

To get a VA disability rating, your disability must connect to your military service. For many health conditions, you need to prove that your service caused your condition. But for some conditions, the VA automatically assumes (or “presumes”) that your service caused your condition. These are called these “presumptive conditions.” Conditions are considered “presumptive” when established by law or regulation.

If you have a presumptive condition, you don’t need to prove that your service caused the condition. You only need to meet the service requirements for the presumption.

This is a great step forward for the thousands of Veterans who have been impacted by burn pits, sometimes decades after exposure. I strongly encourage all Minnesota Veterans from the Vietnam era through the Post-9/11 era to contact their CVSO to review their medical conditions relating to their service.

If you are a Veteran concerned about a burn pit exposure, contact your County Veterans Service Officer or the MDVA Claims Offices:

• St. Paul Claims Office: (612) 970-5662
• Northwest/Fargo Claims Office: (701) 451-4641

As always, if you need information or support on any Veteran issue, please visit our website, contact your County Veterans Service Officer, or contact LinkVet at 1-888-LinkVet.