{"id":76304,"date":"2023-08-06T14:26:04","date_gmt":"2023-08-06T14:26:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/08\/06\/veterans-see-historic-expansion-of-benefits-for-toxic-exposure\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T14:56:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T14:56:19","slug":"veterans-see-historic-expansion-of-benefits-for-toxic-exposure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/veterans\/2023\/08\/06\/veterans-see-historic-expansion-of-benefits-for-toxic-exposure\/","title":{"rendered":"Veterans see historic expansion of benefits for toxic exposure"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Nicole Leger always thought of the burn pits at military bases<\/a> in Afghanistan as more like campfires than health hazards. Ordered to dispose of sensitive documents, she would toss the paperwork into the flames while catching up with fellow soldiers, moments of quiet bonding that provided a respite from her riskier work as a hastily trained medic for the U.S. Army.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe really didn\u2019t see that it was dangerous at the time,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was just part of the mission. So we had to get it done.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But then her sinus problems began, only worsening after she returned home, where she sometimes found herself gasping for breath at night. She remembered thinking, \u201cThis wasn\u2019t who I was before I got in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Nicole
Nicole Leger works from her home office Friday, Aug. 4, 2023, in Lithia, Fla. (Chris O’Meara\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Although Leger already received disability benefits for post-traumatic stress, migraines and a hip fracture, it wasn\u2019t until President Joe Biden signed legislation<\/a> known as the PACT Act<\/a> last year that her monthly payments expanded to take into account the impact of the burn pits. Now 34 years old, Leger and her fianc\u00e9 have moved out of a cramped townhouse and into a larger home in a suburb of Tampa, Florida, where their four children can each have a bedroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI still wake up pinching myself,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leger is one beneficiary of the largest expansion of veterans assistance in decades, and the administration is racing to sign up as many people as possible<\/a> as the first anniversary of the law approaches. Although there\u2019s no deadline to apply, anyone who files a claim or simply signals the intent to do so by Wednesday could collect payments retroactive to last year if the claim is approved.<\/p>\n\n\n\t