Veterans encouraged to apply for new health care benefits
The City of Durango hosted a PACT Act Town Hall meeting at the LaPlata County Fairgrounds, Friday, July 28. The in-person informational meeting was presented by the New Mexico VA Health Care System and the Denver and Cheyenne Veterans Affairs regional offices.
Veterans Affairs (VA) encourages all eligible veterans and survivors to file a claim – or submit their intent to file a claim – for PACT Act-related benefits now. Most Veterans who did so by Aug. 9 will see their benefits, if granted, backdated to Aug. 10, 2022, the day that President Biden signed the bill into law. Veterans can still file a claim at any time, but after Aug. 9, benefits won’t be backdated to last year.
The PACT Act is the biggest expansion of Veteran health care and benefits in generations. The new program expands VA benefits and health care to Vietnam, Gulf, Iraq/Afghanistan War veterans suffering from exposure to Agent Orange, burn pits, and other toxic substances while in service.
Still, the PACT Act is being met with skepticism by many veterans, given the history of the VA. Especially within the Native communities where many actively served overseas in the United States armed forces, yet saw little to no support in the years following their tours in Vietnam and other conflicts.
“Speaking from real life experience that I’ve had with the VA … you’re bounced around in the system and continuously being denied benefits,” Southern Ute Veterans Association Commander, Howard Richards Sr. said. “I’m not going to hold my breath. Even though the PACT Act is promising a lot, it hasn’t been proven to me that it is going to happen.” Richards is an honorably discharged Vietnam veteran having served with the Ninth Infantry Division in the Mekong Delta from Jan. 1 – Aug. 16 of 1969.
“Hopefully the Native American veterans that are still around look at this and get enrolled, we’ve got to hold the government accountable for what they did to us,” said Rod Grove, Vietnam combat veteran (Army) and longtime Southern Ute Veterans Association member.
Since President Biden signed the PACT Act into law, VA has delivered more than $1.4 billion dollars in PACT Act benefits to Veterans. Additionally, more than 660,000 Veterans have applied for PACT Act-related benefits, more than 3.7 million Veterans have received the new toxic exposure screenings, and more than 287,000 Veterans have enrolled in VA health care (this is 40,000 more enrollments than during the same timeframe last year, and it includes 94,000 enrollees from the PACT Act target population).
“I’ve got mixed feeling about that … [the PACT Act]. I really wish they had allowed a little more time for veterans to get their stuff together, in terms of paperwork,” Richards said. “I really think that timeline should be extended.”
The VA remains optimistic. “There are millions of Veterans and survivors across America who are eligible for new health care and benefits, and we will not rest until every one of them gets what they’ve earned,” said Denis McDonough, Secretary of Veterans Affairs. “That’s what this is all about: educating veterans, their families, and survivors – and encouraging them to apply today.”
For more information about VA’s implementation of the PACT Act, visit the PACT Act Dashboard. The VA publishes the dashboard every other Friday to document the implementation of this legislation and showcase its impact on veterans and survivors.
Eligibility information is available at VA.gov/PACT.
The Town Hall meeting was partially facilitated by the New Mexico VA office. “I want to recognize Larry Campos,” Grove said. “He’s been a big help to us; he is a Vietnam veteran himself.” Stating that Campos has been a longtime supporter of the Southern Ute Veterans Association, going back to his early days in Albuquerque where he served as Director of the Field Operations Division for Veterans Services. Campos now serves as the Congressional Liaison for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs out of New Mexico.