The only problem now is seeing how far the DoD and VA can continue stalling implementing this Act in the face of surmounting evidence on the undoubtful negative effects of PFAS on the health of veterans and their families.
The Vet PFAS Act 2023 could grant easier access to compensation and free medical care to veterans and their families who have been exposed to PFAS. While working for the military, serving at home or overseas, many U.S. citizens have been exposed to countless toxic substances that now have a significant toll on their health. Currently, compensation is granted by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) through the PACT Act. The methodology of this Act is quite complicated and uses a case-by-case evaluation for compensation and free medical care.
Now, a new legislative proposal, the Vet PFAS Act 2023, aims to speed up this process for veterans exposed to PFAS. While the Act only grants compensation for some conditions, veteran family members who have been stationed near military bases known to have been contaminated with PFAS are also included for free medical care and compensation. The latest version of this Act was introduced in 2023 but has yet to be enacted.
What makes PFAS the subject of a whole Act?
In the PACT Act, several toxic substances are recognised as dangerous to health and possibly causing disability in veterans. However, PFAS meet whole new medical criteria for disease-causing effects. PFAS or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are known to have a high persistence in the soil and water. Decades of medical science literature now have mounting evidence that these chemicals can cause several types of cancer, and auto-immune diseases, and deregulate endocrine function with impacts on the cardiovascular system and lipid metabolism.
The Vet PFAS Act 2023 is thus a legislative attempt to transpose medical evidence on the effects of PFAS into legislation and provide easier access to compensation and free medical care for veterans and their families. The simple reasoning behind this is that the Department of Defense (DoD) is one of the main contributors to PFAS pollution, having used extensively these substances across several hundred military bases. Moreover, based on the duty-of-care principle and the service connection principle, the DoD is directly responsible for these compensations.
Balancing principles and financial barriers
Since its enactment in 2022, the PACT Act granted around $5.7 billion in compensation for veterans and survivors either as benefits or/and medical care. Most of these compensations, over 1 million in total, were delivered through the VA by the DoD based on a presumptive service connection. In practice, this meant that veterans would have the right to claim because it was presumed that there was a connection between the service and exposure to these toxins which subsequently caused disease.
But with so much evidence on the link between PFAS exposure and disease, there is no presuming about these toxins. So, what’s the hold with enacting the Vet PFAS Act?
One potential reason is the debate about what conditions would ensure an immediate provision of compensation. In its current form, the Act provides direct compensation for ulcerative colitis, thyroid disease, pregnancy-induced hypertension, high cholesterol, kidney cancer, and testicular cancer. However, there is sufficient evidence to warrant an extension of this list to include other types of cancers and autoimmune diseases.
Another more plausible reason for delaying the enactment of this new legislation is financial constraint. Currently, the U.S. provides military support in global conflicts, which turned up to be quite expensive. In fact, the future Trump administration even vowed to have wars ended within 24 hours after Trump enters the Oval Office. Combined with the anti-war spending rhetoric, recent plans to invest heavily in military capabilities indicate that the U.S. military is intensely focusing financial efforts on defense and offense capabilities. Paying compensation to veterans may be a nuisance to these plans.
While the PACT Act’s almost $6 billion in compensations does not sound like much next to the $849.8 billion defense budget request for 2025, these compensations were granted in just two years, and with restrictions imposed through the case-by-case analysis. With the new Vet PFAS Act 2023 eliminating these restrictions, the compensation amount could very well exceed by far what was paid until now, especially since family members would also become eligible. The only problem now is seeing how far the DoD and VA can continue stalling implementing this Act in the face of surmounting evidence on the undoubtful negative effects of PFAS on the health of veterans and their families.
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