Three new cancer types have been added to the Department of Veterans Affairs list of presumed service-connected disabilities due to military environmental exposure under the PACT Act. Photo credit CIPhotos/Getty Images
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has included three new cancer types in its list of presumed service-connected disabilities due to military environmental exposure under the PACT Act.
Through a sub-regulatory policy letter published to the Federal Register, male breast cancer, urethral cancer and cancer of the paraurethral glands have been included in the list of presumptive diseases.
“We are working with urgency to deliver on the promise of the PACT Act to provide health care and benefits to as many toxic-exposed Veterans as possible — we’re leaning in wherever we can,” said VA Secretary Denis McDonough in a statement. “VA is working with one goal in mind: getting today and tomorrow’s veterans and their families the benefits they deserve as fast as possible.”
The policy establishes presumptions of service connection for eligible Gulf War and post-9/11 veterans who deployed to Afghanistan, Somalia, Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Uzbekistan, and the entire Southwest Asai theater of operation, which includes Iraq.
Presumptive service connection means VA automatically assumes service connection for the disease and provides benefits to eligible veterans who have submitted claims with evidence of a diagnosis.
Any veteran who currently has or previously had one of the listed cancers at any time during military service or after separation may be entitled to disability compensation benefits dated back to Aug. 10, 2022, the date the PACT Act was signed into law.
VA will review all claims from impacted veterans and survivors who previously filed and were denied for these three conditions on or after Aug. 10, 2022, to determine if benefits can now be granted. Veterans enrolled in VA health care can obtain cancer screening and treatment at VA.
Veterans and survivors can apply or learn more about the PACT Act by visiting HERE or by calling 1-800-MYVA411.
For more information about VA cancer care, visit HERE.
Written by Julia Le Doux for Audacy ~ June 27, 2024