{"id":75811,"date":"2023-01-26T20:10:13","date_gmt":"2023-01-26T20:10:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/01\/26\/enrollments-in-va-medical-care-spiked-after-pact-act-passage-last-year\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T15:11:53","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T15:11:53","slug":"enrollments-in-va-medical-care-spiked-after-pact-act-passage-last-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/veterans\/2023\/01\/26\/enrollments-in-va-medical-care-spiked-after-pact-act-passage-last-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Enrollments in VA medical care spiked after PACT Act passage last year"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2023\/01\/26\/new-va-initative-helped-house-more-than-40k-vets-last-year\/\" target=\"_blank\">Veterans Affairs officials<\/a> saw a surge in patients enrolling in department health care services following the passage of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2022\/12\/09\/va-plans-week-of-action-to-highlight-new-toxic-exposure-benefits\/\" target=\"_blank\">sweeping military toxic exposure legislation<\/a> last summer, but leaders are confident they have hiring plans in place to absorb the extra work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Roughly 21,000 more veterans signed up for VA medical services from the start of August 2022 to last week, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2022\/07\/21\/after-a-5-year-wait-va-gets-a-new-top-medical-leader\/\" target=\"_blank\">VA Under Secretary for Health Dr. Shereef Elnahal<\/a> told reporters on Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That\u2019s an increase of more than 17% from the same five-month period a year earlier. Elnahal said officials do not yet have data specifically linking the increase to the signing of the the Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act (better known as the PACT Act) last summer, but officials believe the two issues are linked.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/veterans\/2022\/12\/29\/new-in-2023-pact-act-processing-set-to-start-jan-1\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/72611.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">New in 2023: PACT Act processing set to start Jan. 1<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">More than 176,000 veterans have already applied for benefits through the new law.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe are also doing everything we can to make our resources and personnel systems as efficient as possible, so that our clinics can absorb that demand as it really starts to come in,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAnd we do still have targets for this year to reduce wait times, which really means that our priority around staffing up is first and foremost.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Along with expanded disability benefits for individuals suffering from illnesses linked to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/burn-pits\/2022\/03\/29\/what-are-military-burn-pits-and-why-are-veterans-worried-about-them\/\" target=\"_blank\">burn pit smoke<\/a> and other toxins from military service, the PACT Act mandated 10 years of VA health care coverage for troops when they separate from the military.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That benefit extension impacted roughly 800,000 veterans. In addition, VA officials have made a public push in recent months to encourage more veterans to sign up for department health care to ensure their military-specific conditions are being tracked and treated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The PACT Act and the fiscal 2023 budget approved by Congress included both funding and flexibility for increased staffing at VA medical centers to counter a possible increase in enrollment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Elnahal said officials have a goal of about 52,000 new hires this fiscal year to replace departing staffers and add personnel to high-demand areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/veterans\/2022\/12\/09\/va-plans-week-of-action-to-highlight-new-toxic-exposure-benefits\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/IMG_5312.JPG.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">VA plans \u2018week of action\u2019 to highlight new toxic exposure benefits<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The move builds on months of efforts to publicize health care and disability payouts available through the PACT Act.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Through the first four months of the fiscal year, VA has already hit about half of its hiring goal, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe need to hire more providers, more clinicians and schedulers, folks from top to bottom in this organization,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd as we do that, we\u2019re making sure we\u2019re holding ourselves to efficiency and productivity standards that our veterans deserve.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Congressional critics of the PACT Act last year expressed concerns that the influx of new patients could lead to longer wait times and less access to medical appointments. Both Republicans and Democrats have promised close oversight of the issue in coming months.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Department leaders say the are confident the increases won&#8217;t lead to longer wait times for appointments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":106262,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":19,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[100,23,93,12,25,68,19],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3334],"class_list":["post-75811","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-middle-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress","category-veterans"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"XFUGIPEQQVHLND2GPFR3GODZ7U","arc_canonical_url":"\/veterans\/2023\/01\/26\/enrollments-in-va-medical-care-spiked-after-pact-act-passage-last-year\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Enrollments in VA medical care spiked after PACT Act passage last year - Army Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Department leaders say the are confident the increases won&#039;t lead to longer wait times for appointments.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Enrollments in VA medical care spiked after PACT Act passage last year\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Department leaders say the are confident the increases won&#039;t lead to longer wait times for appointments.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/veterans\/2023\/01\/26\/enrollments-in-va-medical-care-spiked-after-pact-act-passage-last-year\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Army Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-01-26T20:10:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T15:11:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Leo Shane III\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Leo Shane III\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/veterans\\\/2023\\\/01\\\/26\\\/enrollments-in-va-medical-care-spiked-after-pact-act-passage-last-year\\\/#article\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/veterans\\\/2023\\\/01\\\/26\\\/enrollments-in-va-medical-care-spiked-after-pact-act-passage-last-year\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"author\": {\n\t                \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"headline\": \"Enrollments in VA medical care spiked after PACT Act passage last year\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2023-01-26T20:10:13+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T15:11:53+00:00\",\n\t            \"mainEntityOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/veterans\\\/2023\\\/01\\\/26\\\/enrollments-in-va-medical-care-spiked-after-pact-act-passage-last-year\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"wordCount\": 432,\n\t            \"commentCount\": 0,\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/veterans\\\/2023\\\/01\\\/26\\\/enrollments-in-va-medical-care-spiked-after-pact-act-passage-last-year\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/6303282455_5df55777cc_o.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"articleSection\": [\n\t                \"Daily News Roundup\",\n\t                \"Home\",\n\t                \"Middle Column\",\n\t                \"News\",\n\t                \"Newsletters\",\n\t                \"Pentagon &amp; Congress\",\n\t                \"Veterans\"\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"CommentAction\",\n\t                    \"name\": \"Comment\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/veterans\\\/2023\\\/01\\\/26\\\/enrollments-in-va-medical-care-spiked-after-pact-act-passage-last-year\\\/#respond\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/veterans\\\/2023\\\/01\\\/26\\\/enrollments-in-va-medical-care-spiked-after-pact-act-passage-last-year\\\/\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/veterans\\\/2023\\\/01\\\/26\\\/enrollments-in-va-medical-care-spiked-after-pact-act-passage-last-year\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Enrollments in VA medical care spiked after PACT Act passage last year - Army Times\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/#website\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"primaryImageOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/veterans\\\/2023\\\/01\\\/26\\\/enrollments-in-va-medical-care-spiked-after-pact-act-passage-last-year\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/veterans\\\/2023\\\/01\\\/26\\\/enrollments-in-va-medical-care-spiked-after-pact-act-passage-last-year\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/6303282455_5df55777cc_o.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2023-01-26T20:10:13+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T15:11:53+00:00\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Department leaders say the are confident the increases won't lead to longer wait times for appointments.\",\n\t            \"breadcrumb\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/veterans\\\/2023\\\/01\\\/26\\\/enrollments-in-va-medical-care-spiked-after-pact-act-passage-last-year\\\/#breadcrumb\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ReadAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/veterans\\\/2023\\\/01\\\/26\\\/enrollments-in-va-medical-care-spiked-after-pact-act-passage-last-year\\\/\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/veterans\\\/2023\\\/01\\\/26\\\/enrollments-in-va-medical-care-spiked-after-pact-act-passage-last-year\\\/#primaryimage\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/6303282455_5df55777cc_o.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/6303282455_5df55777cc_o.jpg.jpg\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"BreadcrumbList\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/veterans\\\/2023\\\/01\\\/26\\\/enrollments-in-va-medical-care-spiked-after-pact-act-passage-last-year\\\/#breadcrumb\",\n\t            \"itemListElement\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 1,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Home\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"home\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 2,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Veterans\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/veterans\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"veterans\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 3,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Enrollments in VA medical care spiked after PACT Act passage last year\"\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebSite\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/#website\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Army Times\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Independent News For Soldiers | Army Times\",\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"SearchAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"EntryPoint\",\n\t                        \"urlTemplate\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"\n\t                    },\n\t                    \"query-input\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"PropertyValueSpecification\",\n\t                        \"valueRequired\": true,\n\t                        \"valueName\": \"search_term_string\"\n\t                    }\n\t                }\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Organization\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/#organization\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Army Times\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/\",\n\t            \"logo\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/army-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/army-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"Army Times\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"\n\t            }\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\",\n\t            \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"migration\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/author\\\/migration\\\/\"\n\t        }\n\t    ]\n\t}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Enrollments in VA medical care spiked after PACT Act passage last year - Army Times","description":"Department leaders say the are confident the increases won't lead to longer wait times for appointments.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Enrollments in VA medical care spiked after PACT Act passage last year","og_description":"Department leaders say the are confident the increases won't lead to longer wait times for appointments.","og_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/veterans\/2023\/01\/26\/enrollments-in-va-medical-care-spiked-after-pact-act-passage-last-year\/","og_site_name":"Army Times","article_published_time":"2023-01-26T20:10:13+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-08T15:11:53+00:00","author":"Leo Shane III","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Leo Shane III","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/veterans\/2023\/01\/26\/enrollments-in-va-medical-care-spiked-after-pact-act-passage-last-year\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/veterans\/2023\/01\/26\/enrollments-in-va-medical-care-spiked-after-pact-act-passage-last-year\/"},"author":{"name":"migration","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1"},"headline":"Enrollments in VA medical care spiked after PACT Act passage last year","datePublished":"2023-01-26T20:10:13+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T15:11:53+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/veterans\/2023\/01\/26\/enrollments-in-va-medical-care-spiked-after-pact-act-passage-last-year\/"},"wordCount":432,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/veterans\/2023\/01\/26\/enrollments-in-va-medical-care-spiked-after-pact-act-passage-last-year\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/6303282455_5df55777cc_o.jpg.jpg","articleSection":["Daily News Roundup","Home","Middle Column","News","Newsletters","Pentagon &amp; Congress","Veterans"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/veterans\/2023\/01\/26\/enrollments-in-va-medical-care-spiked-after-pact-act-passage-last-year\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/veterans\/2023\/01\/26\/enrollments-in-va-medical-care-spiked-after-pact-act-passage-last-year\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/veterans\/2023\/01\/26\/enrollments-in-va-medical-care-spiked-after-pact-act-passage-last-year\/","name":"Enrollments in VA medical care spiked after PACT Act passage last year - Army Times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/veterans\/2023\/01\/26\/enrollments-in-va-medical-care-spiked-after-pact-act-passage-last-year\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/veterans\/2023\/01\/26\/enrollments-in-va-medical-care-spiked-after-pact-act-passage-last-year\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/6303282455_5df55777cc_o.jpg.jpg","datePublished":"2023-01-26T20:10:13+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T15:11:53+00:00","description":"Department leaders say the are confident the increases won't lead to longer wait times for appointments.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/veterans\/2023\/01\/26\/enrollments-in-va-medical-care-spiked-after-pact-act-passage-last-year\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/veterans\/2023\/01\/26\/enrollments-in-va-medical-care-spiked-after-pact-act-passage-last-year\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/veterans\/2023\/01\/26\/enrollments-in-va-medical-care-spiked-after-pact-act-passage-last-year\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/6303282455_5df55777cc_o.jpg.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/6303282455_5df55777cc_o.jpg.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/veterans\/2023\/01\/26\/enrollments-in-va-medical-care-spiked-after-pact-act-passage-last-year\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/","ad_zone":"home"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Veterans","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/veterans\/","ad_zone":"veterans"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Enrollments in VA medical care spiked after PACT Act passage last year"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/#website","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/","name":"Army Times","description":"Independent News For Soldiers | Army Times","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/#organization","name":"Army Times","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/army-logo-white.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/army-logo-white.png","caption":"Army Times"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1","name":"migration","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"migration"},"url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/author\/migration\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Army Times","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes","push-errors":false,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/6303282455_5df55777cc_o.jpg.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75811","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75811"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75811\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":102870,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75811\/revisions\/102870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75811"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=75811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}