The VA has announced that all veterans who were ex¬posed to toxins and other hazards while serving in the mili¬tary – at home or abroad – will be eligible to enroll directly in VA health care beginning March 5, 2024. This means that all veterans who served in the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, Iraq, Afghanistan, the Global War on Terror, or any other combat zone after 9/11 will be eligible to enroll directly in VA health care without first applying for VA benefits. Ad¬ditionally, veterans who never deployed but were exposed to toxins or hazards while training or on active duty in the United States will also be eligible to enroll.

This expansion of VA health care eliminates the phased-in approach called for by the PACT Act – meaning that mil¬lions of veterans are becoming eligible for VA health care up to eight years earlier than written into law.

This expansion of care covers Vietnam Veterans, Gulf War Veterans, Iraq War Veterans, Afghanistan War Veter¬ans, Veterans who deployed in support of contingency op¬erations for the Global War on Terror (Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Freedom’s Sentinel, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation New Dawn, Operation Inherent Re¬solve, and Resolute Support Mission), and more.

This expansion also covers many veterans who never deployed as a part of a conflict but were exposed to toxins or hazards while serving in the U.S. Specifically, under this expansion of care, any veteran who participated in a toxic exposure risk activity (TERA) – at home or abroad – is eligible for VA health care.

The VA has determined that veterans who were exposed to one or more of the following hazards or conditions during active duty, National Guard active duty for training, or National Guard inactive duty training participated in a TERA: air pollutants (burn pits, sand, dust, particulates, oil well fires, sulfur fires); chemicals (pesticides, herbicides, depleted uranium with embedded shrapnel, contaminated water); occupation¬al hazards (asbestos, industrial solvents, lead, paints includ ¬ing chemical agent resistant coating, firefighting foams); radiation (nuclear weapons handling, maintenance and detonation, radioactive material, calibration and measurement sources, X-rays, radiation from military occupational exposure); warfare agents (nerve agents, chemical and bio-logical weapons); and more. The VA will use all available information to determine if veterans participated in a TERA, including military records and service connection.

Veterans are not required to have a service-connected dis¬ability or file a compensation claim to be eligible for VA care. New enrollees will have access to a toxic exposure screen¬ing provided by their primary care physician and may be referred to specialty care depending on need. They also will be assessed for placement in the VA’s priority-based health system and referred to the Veterans Benefits Administration if they qualify for additional benefits.