The PACT Act is a new law that expands VA health care and benefits for Veterans exposed to burn pits, Agent Orange, and other toxic substances.
The PACT Act adds to the list of health conditions that VA assume (or “presume”) are caused by exposure to these substances. This law helps us provide generations of Veterans—and their survivors—with the care and benefits they’ve earned and deserve.
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, the VA automatically assumes (or “presumes”) that your service caused your condition. They call these “presumptive conditions.”
The VA considers a condition presumptive when it’s established by law or regulation.
If you have a presumptive condition, you don’t need to prove that your service caused the condition. You only need to meet the service requirements for the presumption.
There are now 33 conditions on the list of presumptive conditions related to burn pits – a list that didn’t exist until recently. The VA added the first three (asthma, rhinitis, and sinusitis) in August 2021 and expanded the list to include nine rare respiratory cancers in April 2022. Twenty cancers and conditions were added to the list a year later when Congress passed the PACT Act.
The VA has 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:
These illnesses are now presumptive:
If you served in any of these locations and time periods, we’ve determined that you had exposure to burn pits or other toxins. We call this having a presumption of exposure.
On or after September 11, 2001, in any of these locations:
On or after August 2, 1990, in any of these locations: