Press Releases

LOWELL, MA – Ahead of Veterans Day, Congresswoman Lori Trahan (MA-03), a member of the Regional Leadership Council, announced that more than 10,000 Massachusetts veterans have successfully accessed newly available benefits and services through the Sergeant First Class (SFC) Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act. The bipartisan PACT Act, passed by the House and Senate and signed into law by President Joe Biden, is the most significant expansion of benefits and services for toxic-exposed veterans in the last three decades.

“Young men and women courageously volunteer to defend our nation in the Armed Forces with the expectation that we’ll have their backs when they get home. Yet for decades, we failed to uphold our promise by allowing millions of veterans who were exposed to toxic chemicals to be denied the benefits and coverage they need,” said Congresswoman Trahan. “The PACT Act is a long overdue course correction, finally unlocking access to billions of dollars in benefits that veterans and their families earned during their service. I’m proud that more than 10,000 veterans in Massachusetts have already submitted their claims, and as we approach Veterans Day next week, I encourage every veteran and their loved ones to check their eligibility and submit their claims as soon as possible.”

Since the PACT Act was passed by Congress and signed into law in 2022, 1,139,114 claims have been submitted by veterans across the nation. As of October 27^th, 667,399 (58.6%) of those claims have been processed, and 76.9% of the processed claims have been approved, unlocking more than $2.4 billion in earned benefits being awarded to veterans and their families. In Massachusetts, 10,756 claims under the PACT Act have been submitted as of October 13^th, including 1,202 claims from the Third District alone.

The amount of benefits veterans receive following an approved claim depends on their medical conditions and level of disability. However, examples of what Massachusetts veterans could receive include:

• If a Massachusetts veteran with no dependents served in Afghanistan, was exposed to burn pit fumes during their service, has been diagnosed with cancer, and is unable to work, the veteran would now be presumptively eligible for free medical care at a local VA medical center and to receive $43,460 in annual disability benefits.
• If a married veteran with one child and dependent elderly parents in Massachusetts served in Operation Iraqi Freedom, is suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other respiratory disorders, and is unable to work, the veteran would now be able to receive free medical care through the VA and could potentially receive annual disability benefits up to $51,550.

Notably, survivors of veterans are now eligible to reapply for benefits that may not have been available prior to passage of the PACT Act, including retroactive payments. For example, if a widow in Massachusetts who was married to a Vietnam veteran who died from lung cancer was previously denied survivor benefits, the widow could now reapply and receive retroactive benefits as well as a minimum monthly survivor benefit payment of $1,562.

Background:

Prior to passage of the PACT Act, veterans with toxic exposures had to prove a direct connection between their medical conditions and a specific toxic exposure they faced during their military service. Due to the significant burden on veterans and the difficulty in connecting a condition to a singular exposure, the VA denied nearly 4 out of every 5 disability claims related to burn pit exposures. Veterans from earlier conflicts also faced significant hurdles in proving a connection between their medical condition and exposures.

The PACT Act finally changed that by:

• Establishing New Presumptive Conditions and Exposure Locations: Requires that the VA automatically presume that veterans with specific medical conditions who served in areas of high risk of exposure to toxic chemicals are eligible for VA medical care and disability benefits, removing the burden of veterans to prove their medical conditions were the result of an exposure during their service.
• Expanding Eligibility: Expands eligibility for VA health care for multiple veterans. Gulf War and post-9/11 conflicts are now eligible for hospital care and medical services for any medical condition over the next decade, and the period that post-9/11 veterans are eligible to enroll in VA health care is doubled from five to ten years.
• Instituting Mandatory Toxic Exposure Screening: The VA must provide a toxic exposure screening to every veteran enrolled in VA health care, a provision that has already uncovered 2 million veterans who have at least one potential exposure.

For more information on PACT Act benefits or to file a claim, click HERE.

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