August 10, 2022, the PACT Act was signed into law. I borrowed most of this article from VA News https://news.va.gov/press-room/in-two-years-of-the-pact-act-va-has-delivered-benefits-and-health-care-to-millions-of-toxic-exposed-veterans-and-their-survivor/
Partly due to the PACT Act, VA is delivering more care and more benefits to more Veterans than ever before. Key results for toxic-exposed Veterans and their survivors to date include:
- More than 1 million Veterans and their survivors have received disability compensation benefits under the PACT Act: VA has delivered more than $6.8 billion in earned PACT Act benefits.
- Nearly 740,000 Veterans have enrolled in VA health care: 739,421 Veterans have enrolled — a 33% increase over the previous two-year period.
- More than 5.6 million Veterans have been screened for toxic exposures: 5,690,117 Veterans have received free, 10-minute screenings for toxic exposures — a critical step to catching and treating potentially life-threatening health conditions as early as possible.
- Record numbers of Veterans are applying for earned benefits: Over the past two fiscal years, VA has received 4,414,334 claims for disability compensation benefits (including 1,774,158 claims with PACT Act conditions) — 29.8% more than the two fiscal years prior.
VA Secretary Denis McDonough said, in part, “For decades, these Veterans bravely served our country while exposing themselves to hazards like burn pits or Agent Orange — and many got sick as a result. We want all of these heroes — and their survivors — to come to VA for the health care and benefits they earned and so rightly deserve.”
Veteran trust in VA has never been higher, increasing 25% to an all-time high of 80.4% since 2016. Additionally, Veterans’ trust in outpatient health care has increased to 91.8%, also an all-time high.
VA is on track to deliver over 127 million health care appointments in 2024, representing a 6% increase over last year’s all-time record number of appointments. Average wait times for new patient appointments have decreased by 8% in primary care and 9% in mental health compared to the previous year. Additionally, VA has processed 400,000 more priority group upgrades for enrolled Veterans since the signing of PACT Act compared to the two years prior. This includes more than 800,000 Veterans who were in priority groups 7 and 8 who received upgrades, meaning they are now eligible for more VA services without copays.
VA and the entire Biden-Harris administration continue to encourage all eligible Veterans and survivors to visit VA.gov/PACT or call 1-800- MYVA411 to learn more about the PACT Act and apply today. Your CVSO is also available to assist.
Brad Anderson and Melissa Crandall are the Lake County Veterans Service Officers and can be reached at 218.834.8326 or cvso@co.lake.mn.us
Karen Christianson is the Cook County Veterans Service Officer and can be reached at 218.387.3639, or karen.christianson@co.cook.mn.us
