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WASHINGTON – Following advocacy by U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Ohio veterans and military families, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced that all veterans who were exposed to toxins and other hazards while serving in the military will be eligible to enroll directly in VA care due to Brown’s bipartisan Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act of 2022 that was signed into law in 2022.

The PACT Act is the result of a years-long fight by Brown, veterans, and advocates to secure access to Department of Veterans Affairs health care and disability benefits for veterans who were exposed to toxins. The legislation is named after Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson, a Central Ohio veteran who passed away in 2020 at age 39 from lung cancer after exposure to burn pits during a one-year deployment in Iraq in 2006.

Brown is now working with Ohio veterans, their families, and advocates to bring additional attention to provisions in the PACT Act and urges all Ohio veterans and family members to visit www.va.gov/pact to find out more about how to claim benefits.

“This law is the most comprehensive expansion of care and benefits for veterans who faced toxic exposure in our country’s history. This announcement ensures that our veterans can access the care they earned quickly and without delay,” said Brown. “We’ll keep working to get the word out to veterans across Ohio. If you were exposed to toxins while serving our country, you deserve the care you earned, and you shouldn’t have to wait any longer.”

VA’s announcement means that 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 will be eligible to enroll directly in VA health care. Veterans who never deployed but were exposed to toxins or hazards while training or on active duty in the U.S. will also be eligible to enroll. VA’s decision to expand health care eligibility will allow millions of veterans to become eligible for VA health care up to eight years earlier than originally intended. Since the PACT Act was signed into law in August 2022, more than 112,000 veterans have enrolled in VA health care under a PACT Act enrollment authority. VA has also received more than 1.4 million PACT Act-related claims and more than 694,000 veterans and survivors are receiving PACT Act-related benefits.

Info from the office of U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio)