PACT Act Year in Review in Two
PACT Act Year in Review in Two
On the one year anniversary of the signing of the Sergeant First Class (SFC) Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act, Under Secretary for Health Dr. Shereef Elnahal provides an update on the implementation of this landmark legislation that empowers VA to provide more care and benefits to Veterans exposed to toxins during their service.
Content
0.6 -> Hello. I'm Dr.
1.634 -> Shereef Elnahal and I'm honored to serve
Veterans, families, caregivers and
5.739 -> survivors as Under Secretary for Health
at the Department of Veterans Affairs.
10.41 -> Today, I want to share an update
on our progress implementing legislation
13.88 -> signed by the president on August
10th of last year called the PACT Act.
18.284 -> The PACT Act empowers us to treat
and cover care for conditions
21.988 -> related to exposures like burn pits,
Agent Orange, and so much more.
26.893 -> This could be the largest expansion
of veterans benefits in American history.
30.597 -> And in the past year, we've done
2000 outreach events across the country
34.734 -> to inform Veterans about the expansion
of benefits and eligibility.
39.072 -> These events are an opportunity
for Veterans to learn more, file
42.542 -> a claim and get screened
for toxic exposures.
45.612 -> To date, we screened more than 4 million
Veterans and 1.7
48.948 -> million of those Veterans
told us about at least one exposure.
52.652 -> Questions take only about 10 minutes,
and it's really the beginning
55.422 -> of an important conversation
between you and your provider.
58.925 -> So if you're a Veteran
already enrolled in VA Health Care,
62.228 -> get screened at a VA
hospital or clinic near you.
65.932 -> Since enactment, more than 310,000
Veterans have enrolled in VA Health Care,
70.336 -> an increase of more than 44,000
enrollments from the same time last year.
74.707 -> And in order to provide more care to more
Veterans, we're hiring at record pace.
79.345 -> Through June of this year,
we hired more than 43,000 new employees
83.216 -> and grew our workforce
by the highest rate in 15 years.
86.553 -> We're also expanding our clinical space
88.188 -> with 31 major leases
authorized by the PACT Act.
91.558 -> We're also building our affiliations
with academic partners
94.16 -> such as University of Pennsylvania
and Stanford, with whom we signed
97.63 -> two new agreements to build infrastructure
on behalf of Veterans.
101.568 -> So a call to action.
103.136 -> If you think you might qualify
for a health care enrollment
105.405 -> because of a toxic exposure,
we want you to apply for benefits today.
109.509 -> Also, the one year special health
care enrollment period for post 911
112.846 -> combat vets will conclude on September
30th of this year.
116.883 -> If you're deployed in any of the post
118.384 -> 911 conflicts
and you separated more than ten years ago,
121.488 -> you have a chance to directly enroll in VA
Health Care right now.
125.225 -> Go to va.gov/PACT to learn more.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOsQeFrjg4w