Read our newest blog post about The PACT Act here.
The Pact Act is a New Hope for those who
are fighting for benefits or those who
have been denied disability benefits due
to agent orange or other toxins so here
with us today to raise awareness is Greg
Steen CEO of senior care advocate so I
was doing a little research and this is
this is good news for vets out there so
what's The Pact act it's great news it's
probably the biggest
new law that's come down the pike for
the VA ever and it's it's such great
news so it was really designed to go
back and correct a lot of wrongful
denials and open up
presumptive claims for people that were
maybe in the past having to prove that
or anything they were suffering from was
you know service connected when in
reality they shouldn't have to prove it
and so it really opens up so much it's
also for surviving spouses anybody who
is you know
denied in the past they can go back and
have that reopened yeah so it's
amazing news it's great news it really
is and it comes from such an interesting
time in American history so tell us why
this is so important
well first of all I think we deserve
excuse me our veterans deserve
everything we can do for them because
you know they they're at risk obviously
and a lot of them never came back so
when they have things like you know Home
Loans or education benefits or you know
service connected benefits those are
awesome and they're very very good but
there's so much more there and the VA
says you know their own quote is that
for all their benefits
um less than 50 percent of all veterans
take advantage of any of them so I think
it's important that we obviously
recognize they're there and then help
people stare them in the right direction
because there's so many veterans that
are suffering I mean obviously the
homeless we all know about that homeless
veterans it's it's it's really sad but
there's so many that are just not being
helped and they're suffering and soon
and so why why do you think that is I
mean I hear so my boyfriend was in the
Army and he he talks about that a lot
that there are so many benefits the
people either don't know about or they
don't know how to access so why do you
think that is
a couple things
sadly I think the VA doesn't do a great
job of informing that upon return
secondly the veterans service offices
are welming people great people but
completely overwhelmed and can only do
basically what's you know the task at
hand yeah they don't have time to follow
up and whatnot the educational aspect of
the VA is really lacking but also you
have veterans maybe not like you know
the younger ones but the older ones that
are
kind of um not wanting to be a burden on
the system so they'll say things like
hey I'm okay leave it for those who need
it more that type of thing but I think
the big thing is just not understanding
what's there yeah and not really
understanding what the what the purpose
is because leaving it for somebody that
there that's there is a really good
intention but really you're just leaving
benefits on the table going unused
absolutely so we want people to be able
to tap into that you so you mentioned
when we're talking about
um The Pact act that surviving spouses
can qualify absolutely and so what might
they qualify for so they can qualify for
back pay based upon an award that should
have been given they can qualify
sometimes for an Indemnity benefit which
is ongoing income they can qualify maybe
for a service connected pension through
that that's ongoing income
um and so there's you know lots of ways
of uh of helping people be because you
know on these spouse especially for the
older generation they paid a price too
yeah right when they loved and went off
you know and served they were there they
kind of held down the fort and did a lot
of things that they had to do
um I think that they should get
something absolutely I mean you operate
as a family unit and so you should you
should your benefit should be awarded to
the family unit so the The Pact Act is
is it specifically for
um people that might have had
repercussions because of Agent Orange
and other toxins or is it does it cover
people who were asked to prove that they
had a service related injury or
something like that so good question
um the short answer is yes it's for
basically you know agent orange all the
toxins yeah
um Airborne type of things and it's also
for people that were denied that could
go back and now that these things are uh
presumed to be you know caused by this
the VA would basically rubber stamp it
and say yes you know that was a cause we
owed you money we're going to go back
and pay you those minis so it's not for
just anybody and everybody that has any
kind of
um you know service connection issue but
the great thing is on va.gov there's so
much information as far as every type of
thing that's covered how you qualify how
you can apply
um you know the process the timelines
it's very very specific I literally was
just on it before we came on and it's
like man they actually did a great job
this time you know of putting it all
there and so that's great and I do hear
that sometimes that sometimes you know
the the VA is really good for for people
who use it in whatever way they use it
and then sometimes you know it might
fall a little bit short but that's where
Senior Care Advocates can come in and
help direct them to the care that they
might need or the resources that are
available because your whole world is is
researching resources and a lot of our
veterans are senior so uh they just call
that number there on the screen to get
in touch with you right there you go
okay that's the best number and uh and
just real quick if you've not if you're
out there and you just are having
struggles call because there's no cost
consultation but also if you're working
in the VA system find a social worker
it's the key to everything okay okay
the good information always brings good
information enlightening stuff we
appreciate it
