ORLANDO, Fla. – A major deadline for veterans of the Vietnam, Gulf War and post-9/11 eras is fast approaching, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is urging more veterans to file claims for health issues potentially caused by their service.
The PACT Act was signed into law by President Joe Biden in August 2022 and could help some 3.5 million veterans, but many have not yet filed their claims. Veterans have until Aug. 9 to file a claim, or submit an ‘intent to file’, in order to receive retroactive benefits back to Aug. 10, 2022.
The PACT Act expands and extends eligibility for Vietnam, Gulf War and post-9/11 veterans. The law expands health care and benefits for veterans exposed to burn pits, Agent Orange and other toxic substances. It also adds 23 presumptive cancers and other illnesses, requires toxic screenings from the VA, and adds more presumptive exposure locations for Agent Orange and radiation.
Julianne Boor, executive director of the St. Petersburg VA Regional Benefits Office, said many more veterans may be eligible than they realize or may not understand exactly what the PACT Act means for them.
“What they’re filing for, our number one under PACT Act is for our Vietnam veterans is the new presumptive condition for hypertension,” Boor said. “So for the veterans who weren’t familiar with our process, there’s basically what I call a three-legged stool for service connection for any disability. And that is the first leg of the stool is you have to have an event for an illness that occurred in service. You have to have a current diagnosed disability. And what we call a nexus, which is essentially a link between those two things and for many veterans depending on what their circumstances are, that could be a pretty heavy burden.”
But under the PACT Act, as long as you’ve served at the right time and place and have a covered diagnosed disability, you will not have to prove that link — it will be presumed your disability was caused by service in the covered time and place.
Boor said even if a veteran has been denied before or if their current disability isn’t one of the current presumptive conditions, they should still file a claim.
“Even if it’s not considered a presumptive right now, the toxic screenings and the fact that we’re taking a lot of data and to make the process easier, if we’re finding out that there’s a correlation with other disabilities along the line, they won’t have to wait as long or fight so hard to get those connections as a presumptive,” Boor said. “If there’s something that you have now that you believe might have been caused by an event or an illness and service, whether it’s listed on that or any other list as a presumptive, doesn’t prevent you from filing the claim. You should and then we can take a look and see. Even if it’s not considered a presumptive now, it could be in the future, for not only yourself but others. But don’t not file just because it may not be listed just yet. Because there’s other ways for us to grant the claim.”
This also applies to survivors, like the spouse of a veteran who died due to one of the now-covered conditions, and allows them to file claims or re-file if previously denied because the condition was not covered at the time.
Even if you’re not quite ready to file your claim right now, Boor said what’s important to is submit an intent to file by that Aug. 9 deadline.
“What I get a lot of is that people don’t know what they’re filing, so they’re afraid to file anything at all. And what I want to let them know is that’s OK, we can help you with that. But in the meantime, there’s something called an attempt to file another form that you can fill out also online. That lets us know that you’re intending to file a claim but it locks in a date for you. So if we get that either intent to file or an actual claim in by that time and you’re determined to be entitled to benefits, we can actually pay you back to the date of the law, which is Aug. 10 of 2022,” Boor said. “You just click that you’re intending to file a claim for compensation. If you’re a survivor, surviving spouse, you will check the survivor box so that they know that’s what you’re holding your place in line for.”
It’s important to note that if you do miss the Aug. 9 deadline, you’ll still be able to apply for benefits under the PACT Act; you just won’t be eligible for retroactive benefits.
‘You can file at any time with us. We just want to make sure we get the word out. So if they’re entitled that they get the most benefit out of it, and that retroactive benefit is a nice thing to have,” Boor said.
If you are unsure how to file or need help with your claim, Boor said once you get that intent to file in to lock in your retroactive benefits, there are several ways you can get assistance to make sure your claim is correctly filed.
“They can come to physically come to us if they would like, we’re located at 9500 Bay Pines Boulevard, St. Petersburg, Florida. But if you’re not in that local area, that’s OK too. We can take appointments online, either by phone or by computer,” Boor said. “There’s also a lot of state and county representatives in the state of Florida that can also help them either through the Florida Department of Veterans Affairs, Disabled American Veterans, American Legion, VFW, there’s a lot of them out there that their sole purpose is to help veterans with this process.”
Once you file a claim or submit an intent to file, Boor said you can expect to get a notification the information has been received soon after filing if you file online. If you file via mail, you’ll get something in the mail confirming receipt of your documents. Boor said right now, it’s taking up to about five or six months for claims to be processed, but they are working to be able to speed up the process.
“But please come see us, come talk to us. These are your benefits, you earned them. You deserve them. Please come talk to us. We want to help you get every single thing that this law is now granting you,” Boor said.
To find more information on the presumptive conditions, filing a claim and how to get help, click here.
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