The PACT Act is a law that expands VA health care and benefits for Veterans exposed to burn pits, Agent Orange, and other toxic substances. This law helps us provide generations of Veterans—and their survivors—with the care and benefits they’ve earned and deserve. And starting March 5, 2024, we’re expanding VA health care to millions of Veterans—years earlier than called for by the PACT Act.
This page will help answer your questions about what the PACT Act means for you or your loved ones. You can also call us at 800-698-2411 (TTY: 711). And you can file a claim for PACT Act-related disability compensation or apply for VA health care now.
The PACT Act is perhaps the largest health care and benefit expansion in VA history. The full name of the law is The Sergeant First Class (SFC) Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act.
The PACT Act will bring these changes:
If you’re a Veteran or survivor, you can file claims now to apply for PACT Act-related benefits.
To get a VA disability rating, your disability must connect to your military service. For many health conditions, you need to prove that your service caused your condition.
But for some conditions, we automatically assume (or “presume”) that your service caused your condition. We call these “presumptive conditions.”
We consider a condition presumptive when it's established by law or regulation.
If you have a presumptive condition, you don’t need to prove that your service caused the condition. You only need to meet the service requirements for the presumption.
You’re eligible to enroll now—without needing to apply for disability benefits first—if you meet the basic service and discharge requirements and any of these descriptions are true for you:
Specific toxins and hazards include burn pits, sand and dust, particulates, oil well or sulfur fires, chemicals, radiation, warfare agents, depleted uranium, herbicides, and other occupational hazards. Find more military exposure categories on our Public Health website
Note: Even if none of these descriptions are true for you, you may still be eligible for VA health care based on your service. Check the full health care eligibility requirements
We’ve added more than 20 burn pit and other toxic exposure presumptive conditions based on the PACT Act. This change expands benefits for Gulf War era and post-9/11 Veterans.
These cancers are now presumptive:
These illnesses are now presumptive:
If you served in any of these locations and time periods, we’ve determined that you had exposure to burn pits or other toxins. We call this having a presumption of exposure.
On or after September 11, 2001, in any of these locations:
On or after August 2, 1990, in any of these locations:
Yes. The PACT Act adds new presumptive conditions. But there are also many other health conditions that we presume are caused by exposure to toxic (or hazardous) materials. If you have any of these other conditions, you may be eligible for health care or benefits.
You’re eligible to enroll now—without needing to apply for disability benefits first—if you meet the basic service and discharge requirements and any of these descriptions are true for you.
You served on or after September 11, 2001, in any of these locations:
You served on or after August 2, 1990, in any of these locations:
You deployed in support of any of these operations:
Note: You may also be eligible if you were exposed to any toxins or other hazards during training or active-duty service, or based on other factors.
Based on the PACT Act, we’ve added 2 new Agent Orange presumptive conditions:
You may also be eligible for disability compensation based on other Agent Orange presumptive conditions. These conditions include certain cancers, type 2 diabetes, and other illnesses.
If you think you’re eligible for VA health care and benefits, we encourage you to apply now.
Yes. The PACT Act adds new presumptive conditions. But there are also many other health conditions that we presume are caused by exposure to toxic (or hazardous) materials. If you have any of these other conditions, you may be eligible for health care or benefits.
We’ve added these 5 new locations to the list of presumptive locations:
If you served on active duty in any of these locations, we’ll automatically assume (or “presume”) that you had exposure to Agent Orange.
Note: This isn’t the full list of presumptive locations for Agent Orange exposure. Review eligibility requirements for more presumptive locations.
We’ve added these 3 new response efforts to the list of presumptive locations:
If you took part in any of these efforts, we’ll automatically assume (or “presume”) that you had exposure to radiation.
There are also other locations where we presume that you had exposure to radiation. If you served in any of these locations, you may be eligible for health care or benefits.
If you served on active duty in any of these locations during these time periods, you’re now eligible to apply for VA health care:
If you haven’t filed a claim yet for the presumptive condition, you can file a new claim online now. You can also file by mail, in person, or with the help of a trained professional.
If we denied your disability claim in the past and we now consider your condition presumptive, you can submit a Supplemental Claim. We’ll review your case again.
We encourage you to file a Supplemental Claim. When we receive a Supplemental Claim, we’ll review the claim again.
Note: If we denied your claim in the past and we think you may be eligible now, we’ll try to contact you. But you don’t need to wait for us to contact you before you file a Supplemental Claim.
You don’t need to do anything. If we added your condition after you filed your claim, we’ll still consider it presumptive. We’ll send you a decision notice when we complete our review.
Yes. The PACT Act is here to stay, and Veterans and survivors can file for benefits anytime. The sooner you file, the sooner you can start getting your earned benefits.
So don’t wait. File your claim—or quickly submit your intent to file—today.
We will process your claim with the utmost urgency to get you the benefits you deserve as quickly as possible. In the first year of the PACT Act, we completed 458,659 PACT Act-related claims—delivering more than $1.85 billion in earned benefits to Veterans and their survivors.
The time it takes to review your claim depends on these factors:
We regularly update the average number of days it’s taking us to make a decision on disability-related claims on our website.
You can also check your claim status on VA.gov or through our VA: Health and Benefits mobile app.
Toxic exposure screenings are available at VA health facilities across the country.
Every Veteran enrolled in VA health care will receive an initial screening and a follow-up screening at least once every 5 years. Veterans who are not enrolled and who meet eligibility requirements will have an opportunity to enroll and receive the screening.
The screening will ask you if you think you were exposed to any of these hazards while serving:
We’ll then give you information about any benefits, registry exams, and clinical resources you may need.
Ask about the screening at your next VA health care appointment. If you don’t have an upcoming appointment, or if you want to get the screening sooner, contact your local VA health facility. Ask to get screened by the toxic exposure screening navigator.
Yes. If you’re a surviving family member of a Veteran, you may be eligible for these benefits:
You can submit a new application for VA dependency and indemnity compensation (VA DIC).
Note: If we denied your claim in the past and we think you may be eligible now, we’ll try to contact you. We may be able to reevaluate your claim. But you don’t need to wait for us to contact you before you reapply.
You may be eligible for these VA benefits as the surviving family member of a Veteran: