Congress passed the PACT Act Tuesday, which – among other benefits expansions – adds several countries and a large list of disabilities to the presumptive exposures and conditions for Persian Gulf Veterans.
Service connection for a disability usually requires proof of (1) a current disability; (2) an in-service event, injury, or disease; and (3) a causal connection between the two.
However, Veterans with certain qualifying service get to skip the third and hardest step for service connection based on legal presumptions that a disability is related to your service.
The PACT Act expands presumptions for Persian Gulf Veterans.
The PACT Act expands these presumptions in a few ways:
- Expands the definition of “Persian Gulf Veteran” to include those who served in Afghanistan, Israel, Egypt, Turkey, Syria, and Jordan. Previously, this service did not qualify for presumptions related to Gulf War Illness.
- Expands presumed airborne-hazard exposure to include those who served:
- on or after August 2, 1990, in Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, or UAE; or
- on or after September 11, 2001, in Afghanistan, Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, or Uzbekistan
- Adds a huge list of broad disabilities to the diseases presumed related to Persian Gulf Service:
- Asthma diagnosed after service
- Head cancer of any type
- Neck cancer of any type
- Respiratory cancer of any type
- Gastrointestinal cancer of any type
- Reproductive cancer of any type
- Lymphoma cancer of any type
- Lymphomatic cancer of any type
- Kidney cancer
- Brain cancer
- Melanoma
- Pancreatic cancer
- Chronic bronchitis
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
- Constrictive bronchiolitis or obliterative bronchiolitis
- Emphysema
- Granulomatous disease
- Interstitial lung disease
- Pleuritis
- Pulmonary fibrosis
- Sarcoidosis
- Chronic sinusitis
- Chronic rhinitis
- Glioblastoma
The effective date for these changes depends on the disease being claimed and can be any time between October 1, 2022, or 2025.
If you’re a Persian Gulf Veteran under the new broadened definition, or you represent one, be sure to look for the possibility of a new presumptive theory of service connection.
