President Biden recently delivered his promise of improving the quality of health care and the level of benefits for veterans in America as well as their survivors by signing the Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act.
Reports reveal that PACT Act is the best expansion of services and benefits for veterans that are composed of toxins for approximately 30 years.
President Biden, during the first State of Union address, asked Congress to present a bill to him with a comprehensive address of toxic exposures to veterans as well as their caregivers and families over the years.
The main goal was to offer them relevant health care benefits as they deserve. Fortunately, the bipartisan leaders in the House in collaboration with Senate Veteran Committees have now created Pact Act to cover all those essential factors.
President Biden recently stated that the nation is responsible to take care of the families of troops that are sent to handle various tough jobs.
Several times, the critical work environments in the military cause increased health impact on veterans.
Many illnesses such as cancer, asthma, and injuries even take several years to improve.
Such issues make it complicated for veterans to develop connections between disabilities and services in the environmental exposures at military platforms.
The recent interview of President Biden made it clear that his government is willing to support all the veterans who wear a uniform with a commitment to serve the nation. He stated that uniforms represent unity among all Americans including independents, republicans, and democrats.
This is the main reason why their government has added veteran support to their main Unity Agenda.
By signing Pact Act, they are delivering their promise to the veterans and their families in America for taking care of their health in difficult hours.
The recently signed PACT Act in the United States aims to provide enhanced care to veterans that are experiencing critical injuries due to toxic burn pits in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Several families in Pennsylvania will also receive benefits from this Act since this state serves the fourth largest population of veterans in the country.
The National Guard of Pennsylvania alone sent approximately 38,000 troops to the two countries.
The PACT Act is believed to be the largest expansion of essential health care benefits for the veterans that are exposed to a variety of harmful toxins in the past 30 years.
This bill is expected to improve the medical care eligibility of around 3.5 million veterans that are experiencing serious complications due to repeated exposure to toxic pressure.
While signing the document, president Biden states that PACT Act is just a small thing that we can do for the benefit of countless women and men who suffered toxic exposure while providing their services for the safety of the nation.
He also added that this law is going to matter a lot for those people and their families as well.
President also pledged to state that the Department of Veterans Affairs is expected to move as soon as possible to process as well as resolve various claims of veterans that require medical care.
As this law was in process for a long past, the government has now passed the bill and it is now expected to circulate several benefits around.
This bill was passed after a lopsided bipartisan vote after a few days when republicans pulled their support for the dispute regarding how the benefits will be paid to the involved members. It further led to angry protests from veterans that gathered outside Capitol to ensure quick action from the government.
It is expected that this act may be the biggest expansion of benefits to veterans after the Agent Orange Act that came into effect in the year 1991. That bill provided enhanced access to care facilities for the Vietnam War veterans that were exposed to toxic herbicides while serving populations of Cambodians, Laotians, and Vietnamese.
The new bill may also benefit several veterans who have served in the combat zone for more than 32 years while being exposed to toxic substances.
The bill has allocated an estimated amount of $280 billion for the next decade and this fund will be utilized to treat injuries and disease conditions of veterans who have experienced extreme exposure to toxins over the years.
President has made several visits to Iraq before signing this bill where he observed the level of air pollution from several large pits, especially in the areas where materials like chemicals, tires, and jet fuels were incinerated.
While signing the bill, he recalled that it was a huge toxic smoke all around with thick poison spreading into the air and it could have posed huge damage to the lungs of the troops. These scenarios cause critical health issues such as cancer, dizziness, numbness, and headaches to the troops.
The bill will ensure guaranteed funding to treat veterans by establishing a dedicated fund that will not be a party of the congressional spending process per year.
However, a republican from Pennsylvania warned that it is important to put up some clear measures about controlling this new spending as it may sometime also go into tasks unrelated to veteran care.
Senator Patrick failed to set up a caping amount for the money that would have been otherwise applied to the annual funding. He also proposed shifting the healthcare funds for veteran benefits into discretionary spending which means that the Department of Veteran Affairs may need to request their funding every year.
But these conditions could subject funding to the approval of congress and may also lead to annual partisan spending battles around Capitol Hill.
Therefore, Democrats opposed these efforts while stating that the legislation must be accepted as it is.
After approval of this bill, several families in the states are feeling satisfied with the health care facilities that they are expected to receive in the future.
Mr. Biden has also advocated the bill with an immediate call to action to assist veterans that are experiencing serious health issues due to repeated exposure to burn pits while serving in Afghanistan and Iraq.