WASHINGTON — Veterans who were exposed to toxic substances during their military service have a few more days to apply for new benefits after the Department of Veterans Affairs extended a deadline to Monday, following website problems caused by a last-minute surge of applications.
The department made the announcement late Wednesday, which was the original deadline to file a disability claim and receive a full year of retroactive benefits, backdated to when President Joe Biden signed the landmark PACT Act into law in August 2022. Under that law, the VA now treats 23 specific health conditions linked to burn pits, Agent Orange and other toxic substances as “presumptive,” removing the burden of proof for veterans who served during the Vietnam War, Gulf War and post-9/11 eras.
With the deadline extension, veterans still can get those retroactive benefits so long as they file a claim or submit an intent to file by 8:59 p.m. Pacific time on Monday, Aug. 14.
Those who file a claim after that time may still qualify for future benefits, but not retroactive payments. Surviving family members of deceased veterans also may qualify for benefits.
Congress passed the PACT Act — short for “Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics” — after years of advocacy from veterans and their allies. It also extends the period when post-9/11 veterans can enroll for VA health care from five years to 10. Those who served in combat operations and were discharged prior to October 2013 also can qualify for VA health care if they apply before Oct. 1.
Late Tuesday night, the VA said in a news release that about 18% of veterans and survivors were receiving an error message when they tried to submit their intent to file claims, “Due to extremely high volume of submissions.” Wait times for assistance by phone also increased from under 30 seconds to as long as 15 minutes for the same reason.
In another news release Wednesday night, the department said that although the error rate had been reduced to less than 0.1%, it had extended the deadline “out of an abundance of caution.” Any “intent to file” submissions that had prompted an error message would also be honored, the VA emphasized.
In the first year after the law took effect, the VA approved more than 360,000 PACT Act-related claims, for an approval rate of 78.5%, according to a document the department released Thursday. That document referred to the law as “perhaps the largest health care and benefits expansion in VA history.”
In separate letters to VA Secretary Denis McDonough on Wednesday, the chairs of the House and Senate VA committees expressed concern with the problems and asked the department to explain what went wrong.
“I am requesting that VA provide me with daily updates on its efforts to contact veterans to assure them of receipt of their intents to file and provide them with any necessary further information or required next steps,” wrote Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont.
Rep. Mike Bost, R-Ill., wrote that “VA’s failure to anticipate and prepare for the increased volume of submissions as the PACT Act deadline approached is unacceptable, given that the situation was easily foreseeable as this law is the largest expansion of healthcare and benefits for veterans in recent history.”
Every Democrat in the House and Senate supported the PACT Act, but Republicans were split, with some objecting to the bill’s cost, which the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated at $667 billion between 2022 and 2031.
Idaho Sens. Mike Crapo and Jim Risch were among 11 Republicans who voted against the bill in the Senate. In the House, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Spokane and North Idaho Rep. Russ Fulcher voted “no” along with 86 other Republicans, while Rep. Dan Newhouse of Sunnyside and then-Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler of southwest Washington were among 123 GOP lawmakers who helped pass the bill.
Information on the law and how to apply for benefits is available online at va.gov/PACT or by calling (800) MY-VA-411, which is (800) 698-2411.
