Exposure to toxins gives vets free care
(March 6, 2024) By William Kibler, Staff Writer, Altoona Mirror Veterans exposed to hazardous substances during their time in the service became eligible Tuesday to enroll for full and free VA health care coverage without having to demonstrate they were harmed by the exposure.
The eligibility expansion resulted from a Biden administration directive that eliminated waiting periods built into the 2022 Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act that would have postponed eligibility for certain classes of veterans for up to eight years.
The directive will confer immediate eligibility on millions nationwide and at least a couple thousand veterans within the 14-county catchment area served by Van Zandt VA Medical Center, hospital officials said Tuesday.
Veterans now presumed eligible for all types of VA health care include those who served in the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan or any other combat zone after 9/11; any who deployed in support of the Global War on Terror; and veterans who never deployed, but were exposed to toxins and other hazards while in training or on active duty in the U.S., according to a memo used by Van Zandt officials.
“Any veteran who participated in a toxic exposure risk activity (TERA) — at home or abroad — is eligible for VA health care,” a VA news release states.
Such TERA activities include “air pollutants (burn pits, sand, dust, particulates, oil well fires, sulfur fires); chemicals (pesticides, herbicides, depleted uranium with embedded shrapnel, contaminated water); occupational hazards (asbestos, industrial solvents, lead, paints including chemical agent resistant coating, firefighting foams); radiation (nuclear weapons handling, maintenance and detonation, radioactive material, calibration and measurement sources, X-rays, radiation from military occupational exposure); warfare agents (nerve agents, chemical and biological weapons); and more,” the news release states.
It’s the biggest eligibility expansion for the VA in 30 years, said Van Zandt spokeswoman Rachel Prichard.