PACT Act drastically increases claims for Butler County Veterans Service
Butler County Veterans Service has been busy since the passing of the PACT Act in August 2022.
Shawnee Young, director of Butler County Veterans Service, said the PACT, or Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics, Act, expanded eligibility for VA health care for veterans with toxic exposures of the Vietnam War, Gulf War and post-9/11 eras. It added more than 20 presumptive conditions for burn pits, Agent Orange and other toxic exposures, and adds more presumptive-exposure locations for Agent Orange and radiation.
Needless to say, many veterans in the region have been affected by toxins during their service.
“We have been nonstop for the last year-and-a-half,” Young said.
In 2021, before the PACT Act, she recalled handling about 80 claims that year. From August 2022 to September 2023, she said there were 620 claims.
The Butler County office serves more than just Butler County veterans, in part because veterans from counties near Butler receive services from VA Butler Healthcare System. Young said many of the PACT Act claims made to her office have been from non-Butler County veterans. The Butler VA, Young said, refers veterans to Butler County Veterans Service so they can make a claim for conditions including hypertension, which is a common symptom of many Vietnam-era veterans.
“You’re looking at veterans who are 70-, 75- and 80-years-old. Try finding a person that age who doesn’t have hypertension,” Young said. “They added such a common disease to the Agent Orange symptoms. But we’re happy to help, absolutely.”
Young said her office has helped earn benefits for just about every veteran who has made a claim through the PACT Act.
Paula McCarl, public affairs officer for the Butler VA, said the agency has also been hit with more requests since the passing of the PACT Act. Making a claim comes at no cost to the veteran, McCarl added.
She said in an email the Butler VA enrolled 72 new people for care in the 2023 fiscal year over the previous year. According to McCarl, the Butler VA urges clients to seek information relating to the PACT Act.
Since the PACT Act passed, the VA has provided five-minute toxic exposure screenings to all veterans enrolled in VA health care. The Butler VA implemented a Toxic Exposure Screening Navigators and performed 1,674 screenings from its creation in November, 2022 to the end of that year, according to a 2022 report from the agency.
“All enrolled veterans are encouraged to complete a toxic exposure screening to assess current and future health care needs,” McCarl said in an email.
While the veterans services office has been busy with claims, Young said the PACT Act has given aging veterans benefits they may need as they begin experiencing symptoms possibly caused by toxins they were exposed to in their service. She also said the people who make a claim are almost always sent to the veterans services office by a doctor’s diagnosis.
“The doctors up there do a fantastic job of knowing what’s on the PACT list and saying, ‘Go see Shawnee,’” Young said. “We’ll do whatever we can for you.”
