Pact Act and Presumptives

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As often happens, the Pact Act and presumptive is complicated by your period of service.  What is a presumptive?  

What does it mean to have a presumptive condition for toxic exposure?

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.”

 

Vietnam Era Vets:

Based on the PACT Act, we’ve added 2 new Agent Orange presumptive conditions:

• High blood pressure (also called hypertension)
• Monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS)

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.

Get a list of other Agent Orange presumptive conditions

Gulf War era and post-9/11 Veteran eligibility

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What burn pit and other toxic exposure conditions are now presumptive?

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:

• Brain cancer
• Gastrointestinal cancer of any type
• Glioblastoma
• Head cancer of any type
• Kidney cancer
• Lymphoma of any type
• Melanoma
• Neck cancer of any type
• Pancreatic cancer
• Reproductive cancer of any type
• Respiratory (breathing-related) cancer of any type

Learn more about presumptive cancers related to burn pits

These illnesses are now presumptive:

• Asthma that was diagnosed after service
• Chronic bronchitis
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
• Chronic rhinitis
• Chronic sinusitis
• Constrictive bronchiolitis or obliterative bronchiolitis
• Emphysema
• Granulomatous disease
• Interstitial lung disease (ILD)
• Pleuritis
• Pulmonary fibrosis
• Sarcoidosis

Learn about other hazardous materials presumptive conditions that may make you eligible for care or benefits

 

Source:  https://www.va.gov/resources/the-pact-act-and-your-va-benefits/#whats-the-pact-act-and-how-wil