When President Joe Biden signed the PACT Act into law last August, it ushered in one of the greatest expansions of veterans’ health care benefits in American history. It’s certainly the largest I’ve seen in my 20 years working for the Department of Veterans Affairs, first as a nurse and now as director of the Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital.
The PACT Act, which stands for Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics, expands VA health care and benefits to potentially millions of veterans, and their survivors, who were exposed to burn pits and other toxic substances from the Vietnam War era to post-9/11 conflicts. These are benefits they have earned and fully deserve.
