The Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act is winding its way through Congress. This legislation will likely be the largest (as in expensive) related to military toxic exposure since the Agent Orange Act of 1991. The current price tag is estimated at $282 billion and would cover over 3.5 million veterans who served in Iraq, Afghanistan, and several other locations.
The main benefit of the act is to provide a comprehensive, Agent Orange-type presumptive list of diseases and medical conditions that automatically make a veteran eligible for treatment and compensation after proof of service in one of the locations is demonstrated.
Unfortunately, the staggering price tag of the act, plus the sheer impact on the already swamped Veterans Healthcare Administration is a major obstacle to its eventual passage. Recently, a televised “workshop” on the bill by the House Armed Services Committee brought out this fact, along with the typical partisan politics and even a guest celebrity invited by the committee.
Comedian John Stewart became a champion for first responders and construction workers who soon became sick while working on the 9/11 Ground Zero site, which was essentially a very large burn pit. He has now extended his support to military veterans suffering from the same conditions from their service while deployed to the Middle East. While Stewart did make
While Stewart did make the impassioned pleas and call to action you might expect from a civilian not steeped in the typical federal VA/military/ congressional dysfunction when anything new comes along, his acerbic wit did serve to make some effective points. Among the best barbs, he cited how currently the VA research budget for Burn Pit exposure is $7 million annually, while the VA Viagra budget is $90 million annually.
During the workshop, a faction of some congress members and Veterans Service Organizations suggested the PACT Act should be broken up into several smaller bills that can be funded and enacted more rapidly. The idea is to better serve the 750,000 veterans who are sick and suffering now, as estimated by the Wounded Warrior Project organization.
As with the Agent Orange Act, it is, unfortunately, going to take much time and effort to address all the issues needed to help these veterans, and we are bound to lose some of our brothers and sisters along the way. For more information on the PACT Act, go to https:// bit.ly/3o6fGDH.
New State Veterans Home for Orlando
The Florida Department of Veteran Affairs (FDVA) currently runs six nursing homes and one assisted living facility. Up until now, the closest nursing home location to the greater Orlando area has been either Daytona Beach or Land O’ Lakes. Currently, FDVA is refurbishing a former U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Community Living Center on the Lake Baldwin campus of the former Orlando VA Medical Center.
According to FDVA, the new Lake Baldwin State Veterans’ Nursing Home will be able to serve 112 veterans starting in May 2022. Hiring is underway for skilled nursing home staff. For more information, please see: https://bit. ly/3rTOFEJ.
