Aug 14, 2022

Moran: PACT Act will help toxic exposed veterans get medical care

Posted Aug 14, 2022 6:00 AM

NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Kansas U.S. Senator Jerry Moran said the Sergeant First Class (SFC) Heath Robinson Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act of 2022 was signed into law this week and that the legislation was really years in the making.

"It's been a topic that we've worked on, in a sense, piecemeal," Moran said. "With the signing of the PACT Act into law this week, it really does take a major step. It's the most significant toxic exposure legislation that's passed Congress in our country's history."

the SFC Heath Robinson Honoring Our PACT Act of 2022 will:

Expand VA health care eligibility to Post-9/11 combat veterans, which includes more than 3.5 million toxic-exposed veterans;

Create a framework for the establishment of future presumptions of service connection related to toxic exposure;

Add 23 burn pit and toxic exposure-related conditions to VA’s list of service presumptions;

Expand presumptions related to Agent Orange exposure;

The bill includes Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Guam, American Samoa, and Johnston Atoll as locations for Agent Orange exposure;

The bill will strengthen federal research on toxic exposure;

The bill will improve VA’s resources for toxic-exposed veterans and training for VA health care and benefits professionals;

It also is designed to let VA and veterans up for success by investing in:

VA claims processing; VA’s workforce; and VA health care facilities.

Moran notes that just because it is now law doesn't mean everything is fixed yet.

"There's not ribbons to be cut and whistles and bells to be sounded," Moran said. "The practical reality is the department of veterans affairs struggles to implement major pieces of legislation and to do it in a way that really cares, that takes care of our veterans. From a what's next perspective for me it's to make sure that, most recently, the PACT Act is not just words on a piece of paper, but actually makes a difference in the lives of veterans."

Senator Moran spoke back in 2014 at the Vietnam Veterans of America National Leadership Conference in Wichita and heard from Kansas veterans and their families about the effects of Agent Orange and those conversations helped inform a series of pieces of legislation that culminated in the PACT Act.