{"id":77509,"date":"2023-08-29T20:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-29T20:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/08\/29\/deadline-nears-for-recent-combat-vets-to-secure-free-va-health-care\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T15:19:29","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T15:19:29","slug":"deadline-nears-for-recent-combat-vets-to-secure-free-va-health-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/veterans\/2023\/08\/29\/deadline-nears-for-recent-combat-vets-to-secure-free-va-health-care\/","title":{"rendered":"Deadline nears for recent combat vets to secure free VA health care"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

CHARLOTTE, N.C. \u2013 Combat veterans who left the military more than a decade ago can still sign up for Veterans Affairs health care<\/a>, thanks to sweeping toxic exposure legislation approved last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But time is running out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Tuesday, VA Secretary Denis McDonough<\/a> brought that message to the annual American Legion conference being held in North Carolina. He asked the several thousand group members assembled from across the country to relay his pleas to their fellow veterans back home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou have to act fast,\u201d he said. \u201cYou have until Sept. 30th to apply. That\u2019s only a few weeks away. If it\u2019s you, get your application in. If it\u2019s your buddy, tell them to get their application in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Veterans who deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan and other combat zones and left active duty between Sept. 11, 2001, and Oct. 1, 2013, can enroll in the federal health care option for the first time thanks to provisions included the Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act<\/a>, better known as the PACT Act. But they only have until Sept. 30.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That looming deadline has led to this second public relations blitz on PACT Act benefits in less than a month, following a push from VA officials to get veterans to meet a mid-August deadline for retroactive disability payouts<\/a> connected to the bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McDonough said department outreach efforts will increase as the deadline approaches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re already directly communicating to veterans,\u201d he told Military Times. \u201cI think we\u2019ll hear more reaction from that in the coming weeks, and then we\u2019re going to obviously crank up our communication more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t