I am sure you have seen countless commercials with attorneys talking about the PACT ACT or Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act of 2022 which has been signed by President Joe Biden. It is interesting to see how quickly the vultures come out promising to “help our veterans.” This 150-page document provides a lot of changes regarding presumptive diagnosis for specific “covered veterans.” Today I want to start going over the PACT act in detail and will separate this blog into a multi-part series. My goal is for you to understand how this bill may impact you and explain how you can get the benefits you are legally entitled too.

DETERMINING PRESUMPTION OF SPECIFIC TOXIC EXPOSURE FOR MEMBER WHO SERVED IN CERTAIN LOCATIONS

• Presumes that any “covered veteran” was exposed to the substances, chemicals, and airborne hazards.
• Includes veterans with burn pit exposure (open air burn pits only)
• Includes any record of the veteran in an exposure tracking record system

THE TERM “COVERED VETERAN” MEANS

• Means any veteran who served on or after August 2, 1990, and performed active military, naval, air, or space service while assigned to a duty station in, including the air spaces above
• Bahrain
• Iraq
• Kuwait
• Oman
• Qutar
• Saudi Arabia
• Somalia
• United States Emirates Or any veteran who served on or after September 11, 2001, performed active military, naval, air, or space service while assigned to a duty station in, including airspace above
• Afghanistan
• Djibouti
• Egypt
• Jordan
• Lebanon
• Syria
• Yemen
• Uzbekistan



DISEASES FOR PRESUMPTION OF SERVICE CONNECTION IN A “COVERED VETERAN”

The diseases listed below have occurred or manifested in a covered veteran shall be considered to have been incurred in or aggravated during active-duty service, even if there is no record of evidence of such disease during the period of such service.

• Asthma
• Head cancer of any type
• Neck cancer of any type
• Respiratory Cancer of any type
• Gastrointestinal cancer of any type
• Lymphoma cancer of any type
• Lymphomatic cancer of any type
• Kidney cancer
• Brain cancer
• Melanoma
• Pancreatic cancer
• Chronic bronchitis
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
• Constrictive bronchiolitis or obliterative bronchiolitis
• Emphysema
• Granulomatous disease
• Interstitial lung disease
• Pleuritis
• Pulmonary Fibrosis
• Sarcoidosis
• Chronic Sinusitis
• Chronic rhinitis
• Glioblastoma

EFFECTIVE DATE AND APPLICABILITY

• If you are considered a “covered veteran,” for most conditions you can file for presumptive service connection right now.
• There are a few conditions that the bill list specific dates for when you can file a claim.
• I recommend filing your claim ASAP regardless of effective dates or date of applicability. According to sec. 405 part b of the PACT ACT, a claim for benefits cannot be denied for a condition or disease for which the PACT ACT establishes a presumption of service connection because the claimant filed the claim prior to the effective date or date of applicability for that particular disease or condition.

I hope I was able to break this down in an easy-to-understand format. The next blog will discuss how the PACT ACT improves compensation for disabilities occurring in Persian Gulf War veterans, expansion of the definition of a Persian Gulf war Veteran and awarding veterans retroactive pay for these types of claims. You don’t need to spend 1,000’s on an attorney to win presumptive service connection. Find a medical provider who is willing to help you complete the required documents to win your claim.

Call Precision Health DPC to see if we can help you with your claim.