Pact act health care eligibility | va tomah health care | veterans affairs

Tomah , WI — In one of the largest-ever expansions of Veteran health care, all Veterans exposed to toxins and other hazards during military service – at home or abroad – are now eligible for

VA health care. At the direction of President Biden, VA is expanding health care eligibility to millions of Veterans – including all Veterans who served in the Vietnam War, the Gulf War,

Iraq, Afghanistan, and any other combat zone after 9/11 – years earlier than called for by the PACT Act. TOMAH, WI — Today, VA announced that all Veterans who were exposed to toxins and

other hazards while serving in the military – at home or abroad – are now eligible to enroll directly in VA health care. This means that all Veterans who served in the Vietnam War, the Gulf

War, Iraq, Afghanistan, the Global War on Terror, or any other combat zone after 9/11 are eligible to enroll in VA health care without first applying for VA benefits. Additionally, Veterans

who never deployed but were exposed to toxins or hazards while training or on active duty in the United States are eligible to enroll. As directed by President Biden, this expansion of VA

health care eliminates the phased-in approach called for by the PACT Act – meaning that millions of Veterans are becoming eligible for VA health care up to eight years earlier than written

into law. This is a critical step forward because Veterans who are enrolled in VA health care are proven to have better health outcomes than non-enrolled Veterans, and VA hospitals have

dramatically outperformed non-VA hospitals in overall quality ratings and patient satisfaction ratings. Additionally, VA health care is often more affordable than non-VA health care for

Veterans. VA encourages all eligible Veterans to visit VA.gov/PACT or call 1-800-MYVA411 to learn more and apply for VA health care today. Since President Biden signed the PACT Act into law

on August 10, 2022, more than 213,000 Veterans have enrolled in VA health care. “If you’re a Veteran who may have been exposed to toxins or hazards while serving our country, at home or

abroad, we want you to come to us for the health care you deserve,” said VA Secretary Denis McDonough. “VA is proven to be the best, most affordable health care in America for Veterans – and

once you’re in, you have access for life. So don’t wait, enroll today.” “Today, we’re making millions of Veterans eligible for VA health care years earlier than called for by the PACT Act,”

said VA Under Secretary for Health Shereef Elnahal, M.D. “With this expansion, VA can care for all Veterans who served in the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, Iraq, Afghanistan, the Global War on

Terror, or any other combat zone after 9/11. We can also care for Veterans who never deployed but were exposed to toxins or hazards while training or on active duty here at home – by

working with chemicals, pesticides, lead, asbestos, certain paints, nuclear weapons, x-rays, and more. We want to bring all of these Veterans to VA for the care they’ve earned and deserve.”

In addition to expanding access to VA care, this decision makes it quicker and easier for millions of Veterans to enroll. Many Veterans believe they must apply to receive VA disability

compensation benefits to become eligible for VA health care, but this is not correct. With this expansion and other authorities, millions of eligible Veterans can enroll directly in VA care

– without any need to first apply for VA benefits. This expansion of care covers Vietnam Veterans, Gulf War Veterans, Iraq War Veterans, Afghanistan War Veterans, Veterans who deployed in

support of contingency operations for the Global War on Terror (Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Freedom’s Sentinel, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation New Dawn, Operation Inherent

Resolve, and Resolute Support Mission), and more. This expansion also covers many Veterans who never deployed as a part of a conflict but were exposed to toxins or hazards while serving in

the U.S. Specifically, under this expansion of care, any Veteran who participated in a toxic exposure risk activity (TERA) – at home or abroad – is eligible for VA health care. VA has

determined that Veterans who were exposed to one or more of the following hazards or conditions during active duty, active duty for training, or inactive duty training participated in a

TERA: air pollutants (burn pits, sand, dust, particulates, oil well fires, sulfur fires); chemicals (pesticides, herbicides, depleted uranium with embedded shrapnel, contaminated water);

occupational hazards (asbestos, industrial solvents, lead, paints including chemical agent resistant coating, firefighting foams); radiation (nuclear weapons handling, maintenance and

detonation, radioactive material, calibration and measurement sources, X-rays, radiation from military occupational exposure); warfare agents (nerve agents, chemical and biological weapons);

and more. VA will use all available information to determine if Veterans participated in a TERA, including military records and service connection. VA is executing a nationwide campaign to

ensure that as many Veterans as possible enroll. To date, VA’s PACT Act outreach campaign has included more than 2,500 events nationwide, $13 million in paid advertising, 88,000 earned media

clips, more than 400 million emails and letters to Veterans, VA’s first-ever text messaging campaign, 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. More

information on eligibility can be found at VA.gov/PACT. ABOUT TOMAH VA MEDICAL CENTER   Tomah VA Medical Center is located on a 174-acre campus in Tomah, Wisconsin and serves approximately

26,000 veterans in 16 counties in Wisconsin and Minnesota. Tomah VA has four outpatient clinics located in La Crosse, Owen, Wisconsin Rapids, and Wausau.  Tomah VA specializes in medicine,

mental health, whole health, and long-term care. Medicine services include acute inpatient care at Tomah and primary care at all locations. A range of specialty services are provided at

Tomah and are being migrated to outpatient clinics through on-site and telehealth. Information about Tomah VAMC can be found at www.va.gov/tomah-health-care.    ###