The White House on Tuesday announced that more than 1 million claims have been granted through the PACT Act, a landmark law passed in 2022 that gave veterans expanded access to apply for compensation and relief related to toxic exposures during service. More than 880,000 veterans are receiving disability benefits through the PACT Act across the entire country and its territories, according to the White House. President Biden is expected to formally deliver the news later Tuesday during an event with veterans and their families while in New Hampshire.
Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) Denis McDonough said the PACT Act has “helped us bring VA to vets, rather than making them change their lives to come to us.” “Now the president’s been quite clear that we at the VA have more work to do and nothing will stop us from fulfilling our sacred obligation ..
. to serve America’s vets every bit as well as they have served us,” he said in a press call. “We won’t rest until every veteran and every survivor gets the VA health care and benefits they deserve.
” The VA still has many more claims to work through. Last year, more than 2.4 million claims, a 39 percent increase from 2022, for a total of 4.
17 million claims since the PACT act became law. “We’re processing those claims at the fastest rate in history,” said McDonough. The PACT Act has also created $5.
7 billion in earned benefits for veterans, and have received free screenings for toxic exposures through the law.
