More than 1 million toxic exposure-related claims granted under new veterans law, Biden to announce

President Joe Biden, intent on selling his legislative accomplishments this election year, will travel to New Hampshire to detail the impact of a law that helps veterans obtain important benefits as a result of wildfires or other toxic exposures during their service.

WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden, intent on selling his legislative accomplishments this election year, will travel to New Hampshire on Tuesday to detail the impact of a law that helps veterans obtain important benefits as a result of wildfires or other toxic exposures during their service.

In raw numbers, more than 1 million claims have been awarded to veterans since Biden signed the so-called PACT Act into law in August 2022, the administration said Tuesday. That equates to about 888,000 veterans and survivors in all 50 states who were able to receive disability benefits under the law.

That totals about $5.7 billion in benefits provided to veterans and their survivors, according to the government.

“The president, I think, has long believed that many veterans who got sick serving and fighting for our country also had to fight the VA for their care,” Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough told reporters Monday -fair.

The PACT Act is relatively more low-key compared to the president’s other legislative accomplishments — such as a bipartisan infrastructure bill and a sweeping tax, climate and health care package — but it is deeply personal for Biden.

He blamed the burns on the brain cancer that killed his son Beau, who served in Iraq, and repeatedly promised he would sign the PACT Act into law. Burn pits are where chemicals, tires, plastics, medical equipment and human waste were dumped on military bases and used in Iraq and Afghanistan.

But before the PACT Act became law, the Department of Veterans Affairs denied 70 percent of disability claims involving wildfire exposure. Now, the law requires the VA to presume that certain respiratory illnesses and cancers were related to burns or other toxic exposures without veterans having to prove the link.