It’s now recess time in D.C., but the summer session featured at least one major win for Veterans’ healthcare while also offering hints of another Veterans’ legislative package likely in the works for the fall.

Congress has passed, and President Biden has now signed, legislation marking the largest expansion of Veterans’ healthcare in almost thirty years.

The bipartisan Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act was crafted with the goal of delivering more timely benefits and services to more than 5 million cross-generational  Veterans – as well as their families and caregivers – who may have been impacted by toxic exposures while during their service. Among the notable provisions of the PACT Act include:

• Extending from five to ten years the period post-discharge for 9/11 combat Veterans have to enroll in VA healthcare coverage
  • Creating a one year open enrollment period for all other combat Veterans
• Formally establishing a new process for evaluating and determining a presumption of exposure and service connection for various chronic conditions
• Removing the need for proof of service connection for 23 specific health conditions, including 11 respiratory-related conditions
• Requiring the Department of Veterans’ Affairs to conduct new studies of Veterans who served in Southwest Asia during the Gulf War, analyses of post-9/11 Veterans’ health trends, and to establish an interagency working group to develop a five-year strategic plan on toxic exposure research
• Establishing a regular toxic exposure screening program for Veterans at VA medical centers and providing VA personnel with better education and training on the impact of toxic exposures and related conditions
• Providing resources to strengthen the VA healthcare workforce, speed claims processing, and build 31 new medical clinics and research facilities (including a new medical facility in Jacksonville, NC)

Our team will continue to monitor the implementation of this new expansion of services and benefits, as well as keep our eyes on another in-the-works bipartisan Veterans’ legislation being developed by the leadership of the House and Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee. There aren’t many details yet, but our committee contacts have suggested the package will contain further investments in VA benefits and support for VA research.

We’ll keep you posted as we learn more, and please feel free to reach out with any questions!