{"id":72660,"date":"2023-04-06T20:23:49","date_gmt":"2023-04-06T20:23:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/04\/06\/va-secretary-worries-mistrust-ignorance-holding-back-benefits-claims\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T15:21:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T15:21:13","slug":"va-secretary-worries-mistrust-ignorance-holding-back-benefits-claims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/veterans\/2023\/04\/06\/va-secretary-worries-mistrust-ignorance-holding-back-benefits-claims\/","title":{"rendered":"VA secretary worries mistrust, awareness holding back benefits claims"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Veterans\u2019 mistrust or misunderstanding of federal assistance programs may be cheating them out of tens of millions of dollars in benefits, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2023\/03\/29\/vet-agency-chief-calls-onboarding-times-for-new-hires-indefensible\/\" target=\"_blank\">Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough<\/a> warned on Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In remarks during the <a href=\"https:\/\/thewarhorse.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">War Horse Symposium<\/a> on military and veteran reporting issues, McDonough said only a small fraction \u2014 about 10% \u2014 of individuals potentially eligible for new benefits under <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2023\/02\/02\/new-house-vets-chair-plans-focus-on-pact-act-oversight-medical-access\/\" target=\"_blank\">toxic exposure legislation<\/a> approved last year have filed claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He said he hopes to see that number increase significantly in coming months, but knows there are obstacles in the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThere\u2019s just a general lack of trust issue in VA,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not everybody, and the trust numbers are getting better. \u2026 But we have to get through the trust issue.\u201d<\/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\/2023\/02\/02\/new-house-vets-chair-plans-focus-on-pact-act-oversight-medical-access\/\" 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\/AP18311168592203.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 House Vets chair plans focus on PACT Act oversight, medical access<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Rep. Mike Bost takes over as committee chairman after serving as ranking member last year.<\/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\">McDonough and other top VA officials have repeatedly advocated for veterans to screen for potential military toxic exposure injuries and inquire about potential financial benefits in response to last summer\u2019s passage of the Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act, better known as<a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2022\/12\/12\/va-starting-work-on-terminally-ill-vets-pact-act-claims-immediately\/\" target=\"_blank\"> the PACT Act.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The legislation provides for presumptive benefit status for 12 types of cancer and 12 other respiratory 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 exposure<\/a> in the Gulf War, the War in Afghanistan and the War in Iraq; hypertension and monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) for veterans who served in Vietnam; and radiation-related illnesses for veterans who served in several new locations in the 1960s and early 1970s.<\/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\/2023\/04\/06\/va-delays-rollout-of-health-records-system-to-next-scheduled-sites\/\" 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=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Saginaw-VA-Medical-Center.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 delays rollout of health records system to next scheduled sites<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Staff at the VA Saginaw Healthcare System were scheduled to start training on the system next week.<\/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\">More than 400,000 individuals have applied for disability benefits through the legislation in recent months. But VA officials said as many as 5 million individuals may eligible under the legislation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">McDonough said that discrepancy points to the need for even more outreach and advocacy by his department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThere are still a lot of vets who are unaware, and that means we have to get out there more aggressively,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThere are 19 million vets in the country. We want to reach all of them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Information on PACT Act benefits is available through <a href=\"https:\/\/www.va.gov\/resources\/the-pact-act-and-your-va-benefits\/\" target=\"_blank\">the VA web site.<\/a> In addition, veterans who visit VA health care facilities are being screened for potential toxic exposure issues during routine health care visits and can receive information from local staff on how to apply for benefits.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Only a small number of vets eligible for PACT Act benefits have applied.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":106268,"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":[101,7,23,89,12,26,62,19],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3222],"class_list":["post-72660","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-education-transition","category-home","category-middle-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress","category-veterans"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"KKMZ74Z6HFCQRCHT3VMDJ5ENTM","arc_canonical_url":"\/veterans\/2023\/04\/06\/va-secretary-worries-mistrust-ignorance-holding-back-benefits-claims\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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