Since 2022, a landmark bill has increased and expanded veteran benefits for those who have been exposed to toxic substances.
On Aug. 10, 2022, President Joe Biden signed the PACT Act into law, providing expanded benefits nationwide for veterans with presumptive conditions due to toxic exposure to things like Agent Orange and burn pits during their time in the military.
“It's the greatest expansion of [Veterans Affairs] benefits in our nation's history and truly greatly needed,“ San Luis Obispo County Veteran Services Officer Morgan Boyd explained.
Formally, it's called the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act of 2022 — named after a decorated combat medic who died in 2020 from the effects of service-related toxic exposure.
Locally, it’s made an impact. Boyd explained that last year they increased their benefits by 30%, shelling out $12.5 million compared to the $9.5 million in 2022.
“We're continuing to increase that dollar amount," he said. "We're responsible for $110 million annually in this county for benefits that veterans get access to.”
For Boyd, the PACT Act has addressed personal health issues he says he encountered in the Middle East in his 12 1/2 years of service.
“I have chronic sinusitis and rhinitis," he said. "I've had surgeries, I have issues with my digestion now.”
The effects from the burn pits even took one of his closest friends, giving him a rare form of esophageal cancer that quickly reared its head upon his return from deployment.
“He was dead six months later," Boyd said. "These conditions are very serious to us.”
Co-founder of the Welcome Home Military Heroes nonprofit Robert Tolan has worked with countless veterans and recalls what life was like for people before the PACT Act was signed into law.
“Our military heroes [were] getting a bunch of kidney stones or getting sick," he said. "But we were all kind of getting sick the same and so that's when I really started noticing that certain things need to be investigated."
But now, Tolan directly complements local county veterans services organizations in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties as drivers of informing the local veteran populations on their accessible PACT Act benefits.
“It is absolutely amazing, to be honest," Tolan said. "I think especially San Luis Obispo County and Santa Barbara County really got in front of it. Even when it was just starting to get passed, they really got in front of it and started teaching veterans about it.”
According to Boyd, 1.8 million claims have been processed.
“So, people that have been fighting for decades, truly, some of them 20 years," he said, "are now getting access to their benefits and their health care.”
Boyd also told KSBY that despite a decreasing number of veterans in the county, he expects to see more and more appointments to be made at the Veteran Services Office this next year looking to capture more veteran benefits.
