Alachua County Veteran Services is informing Veterans in Alachua County about the PACT Act signed by President Joe Biden on August 10, 2022. The PACT Act opens many new conditions and diseases they may suffer from to be considered service-connected. Veterans serving between 1990 to present, and those who served in the Vietnam War, may now qualify for VA health care and/or service-connected compensation where they did not before the Pact Act was signed. Veterans should contact Alachua County Veterans Services at 352-264-6740 to find out about filing a PACT Act claim. Due to the probable high call volume, please allow time for their office to schedule you to provide the services earned.
Following the Veterans Administration Regional Office guidelines, Alachua County Veteran Services staff have filed PACT Act claims for the last several weeks. The Veterans Administration will begin to work on these claims in October 2022.
The PACT Act is the largest expansion of VA health care benefits for Veterans exposed to toxins in more than 30 years. It should extend eligibility for medical care to roughly 3.5 million Veterans who have potentially been impacted by toxic exposure. The County estimates that approximately 7,000 Veterans in Alachua County may be in this eligibility window.
“This is a wonderful opportunity for our Veteran community as it opens many conditions/diseases that they may be suffering from to be considered service-connected,” said Alachua County Veteran Services Director Kim Davis. “We are pleased to finally be able to serve our Veterans with this opportunity that has become available to them.”
For more information, contact Alachua County Veteran Services at 352-264-6740. The media can contact Alachua County Communications Director Mark Sexton at 352-264-6979.