Next PACT Act Deadline: Health Care Enrollment for Veterans who Deployed to Combat Zones

"This special enrollment period is an excellent opportunity for Veterans in our area who served in Iraq, Afghanistan and other combat zones  to enroll directly in VA health care, without first applying for VA benefits," said Vincent Ng, director of the VA Boston Healthcare System.

VA encourages all eligible Veterans to visit VA.gov/PACT or call 1-800-MYVA411 to learn more and sign up for VA health care before the deadline. Veterans enrolled in VA health care are proven to have better health outcomes than non-enrolled Veterans, and VA hospitals often outperformed non-VA hospitals in overall quality ratings and patient satisfaction ratings. Additionally, VA health care has no annual premium and is often more affordable than non-VA health care coverage options for Veterans. 

The special enrollment period is a part of the PACT Act, the largest expansion of VA health care and benefits in generations. Since President Biden signed the PACT Act into law Aug. 10, 2022, more than 344,000 Veterans have enrolled in VA health care and more than 4.2 million enrolled Veterans have been screened for toxic exposures. In Massachusetts alone, more than 4,500 Veterans have enrolled in VA health care since Aug. 10, 2022.

“Are you a Veteran who deployed to a combat zone but never enrolled in VA health care? If you left active duty between September 11, 2001, and October 1, 2013, you should sign up now,” said VA Secretary Denis McDonough. “Even if you don’t need this care now, you may need it in the future – and once you’re in, you have access for life. But don’t wait – the deadline is September 30 – so go to VA.gov/PACT and apply today.”

Although this deadline is written into law for this specific group of Veterans, many other groups of Veterans are also able to enroll directly in VA health care without first applying for VA benefits – including many Vietnam Veterans, Gulf War Veterans, Veterans who deployed to a combat zone and transitioned out of the service less than 10 years ago, and more. Veterans who do not meet any of the above criteria can often still access VA health care by filing for VA benefits or based on income. If a Veteran is granted service connection for any health condition, they become eligible for VA health care.

The PACT Act expanded VA benefits for millions of Veterans, making more than 300 health conditions “presumptive” for service connection. This means that if an eligible Veteran has one of these health conditions, VA automatically assumes that the condition was caused by the Veteran’s service and provides compensation and care accordingly. Since the PACT Act was signed into law, VA has delivered more than $1.85 billion in PACT Act benefits to Veterans and their survivors. VA encourages Veterans and their survivors to apply for these benefits now at VA.gov/PACT. 

VA is currently in a full-court press to ensure that as many Veterans as possible enroll before Sept. 30. To date, VA’s PACT Act outreach campaign has included more than 2,000 events nationwide, $13 million in paid media, 60,000 earned media clips, more than 400 million emails and letters to Veterans, the creation of a one-stop-shop PACT Act website, and more. This is the largest outreach campaign in VA history, which has one goal in mind: ensure that all Veterans – and their survivors – get the health care and benefits they deserve under the PACT Act.

For more information about how the PACT Act is helping Veterans and their survivors, visit VA’s  PACT Act Dashboard. To apply for care or benefits today, visit VA.gov/PACT or call 1-800-MYVA411. 

Winfield Danielson, Public Affairs Officer

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