WASHINGTON — The recently-passed "Honoring our PACT Act" provides care and benefits to 3.5 million veterans who were exposed to toxic burn pits in conflicts ranging from Vietnam, Desert Storm, and America's post-9/11 wars in the Middle East and Afghanistan.
It is said to be the largest expansion of vets' benefits since at least the GI Bill, and perhaps ever. Lawmakers are now worried if the Department of Veterans Affairs can pull it off.
"The Honoring Our PACT Act will be as massive as it is significant... and given its transformative nature, it will, by definition, present implementation challenges and concerns," said Rep. Mark Takano (D-California), the chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee at a hearing on Wednesday.
Committee members said that hundreds of thousands of new PACT Act benefits claims could face a backlog stretching as far as February of 2025 before they are even acted upon.
"[Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis] McDonough assured us he could implement it without crippling existing operations," said Rep. Mike Bost (R-Illinois). "I intend to hold the secretary to his word. Our veterans have waited too long for the VA to fall short now."
VA leaders told the panel they're confident the department will deliver and as to specific concerns about protecting vets from any potential PACT Act scams, they said they're working hard to prevent that from happening.
"We are working to ensure we're doing everything possible to protect veterans and their dependents by educating them about fraudulent activity, potential predatory schemers, and common tactics that are used to take advantage of their hard-earned benefits," said Joshua Jacobs, the VA senior advisor for Policy Performing the Delegable Duties of the Under Secretary for Benefits.