PACT Act

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to today's press conference. Hopefully everybody's preparing for the holidays. This will be the last time that we see everybody heading into the holiday period. So we definitely wish each and every one of you a happy holidays.

We have a lot to cover today. We have multiple guests joining us to share some news as well as some overviews. So with that, I'll go ahead and kick it over to the boss, over to Secretary Denis McDonough.

Good morning. Emily Wilkins, thanks for that kind introduction, and for leading this important organization. Let me recognize the Press Club’s American Legion Post and its commander, Tom Young, and all the Veterans Service Organizations represented here.

VA delivered more care and more benefits to more Veterans than ever before in fiscal year 2024 — exceeding last year’s record totals.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen and welcome to this month's press conference. We're excited. We have a lot of folks joining us today to provide you with a lot of great things that we're doing across the enterprise. So I won't speak too much longer, I'll go ahead and get the Secretary up here and introduce our two guests, and then turn it over to the reporters for questions. So with that, I'll turn it over to Secretary Denis McDonough.

VA will conduct a scientific assessment to determine if there is a relationship between per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) exposure during military service and kidney cancer among Veterans.

VA releases new PACT Act dashboard highlighting the impact of the historic law for delivering benefits and health care to millions of Veterans and their survivors exposed to toxins.

VA redesigns Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry to better understand, research, and ultimately improve treatment for the health challenges facing Veterans exposed to airborne hazards and burn pits during service.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to this month's press conference. You may have noticed I'm not actually in the room.

Three-quarters of the way through the fiscal year – VA has granted benefits to 1.1 million Veterans and their survivors, an all-time record.

Today, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is including three new cancer types in the list of presumed service-connected disabilities due to military environmental exposure under the PACT Act. This announcement marks the continued commitment under the Biden-Harris administration’s Unity Agenda and the Biden Cancer Moonshot to support the nation’s Veterans.

Today, on Women Veterans Recognition Day, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced that more than 53,000 women Veterans enrolled in VA health care between May 2023 and May 2024, marking a 20% increase over the previous year and the largest enrollment year for women Veterans on record.

oday, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced it will host the second annual PACT Act Summer VetFest — featuring more than 100 Summer VetFest events in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico — to encourage Veterans and survivors to apply for the health care and benefits they have earned under the PACT Act.