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The PACT Act and Your VA Benefits – How Can Ehline Law Help You?

Written by MichaelEhline on November 29, 2024. Posted in Service Related Cancer Blog.

Years ago, veterans, especially Vietnam veterans, didn’t have an easy way to get treatment related to medical conditions they suffered from. Even a veteran enrolled in VA healthcare could not get money to cover medical bills for things the VA considered non-service connected. This became a problem for veterans exposed to toxic substances since they developed serious illnesses with expensive medical programs that would be enough to give anyone high blood pressure.

Apart from that, not everyone believed the illnesses people were getting were due to military service, so neither the government nor healthcare facilities wanted to help them. Fortunately, many agencies and organizations have raised awareness of this situation. An act to help veterans exposed to burn pits, deadly chemicals, and other toxins is now active. We are, naturally, talking about the PACT. However, few people know how this act works or how they can benefit unless they hire a trained professional to obtain these additional benefits.

Are you a veteran of Iraq, Afghanistan, or even the Vietnam era stationed at one or more presumptive exposure locations? Are you willing to learn more about the benefits and services of the PACT Act? Please read this page to learn more about it and how it’s funding families who enroll with additional resources and benefits for veterans! We can help you apply for the PACT ACT-related protections for many health conditions.

If you ever need legal assistance when filing a VA claim or applying for PACT benefits, you can always count on the Ehline Law Firm. We work in several counties in California, and our goal is to help personal injury victims get the compensation they deserve for their accidents.

Veterans with toxic exposures should call us now to get a free consultation to apply for the PACT ACT through Veterans Affairs VA protocols.

What’s the PACT Act?

The full name of this law is The Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act. This law aims to help veterans suffering from toxic substances and burn pit exposure get the funds they need and have earned to treat their illnesses.

Can You Sue?

Yes. After making your claim, certain vets can sue for exposure to toxic water and other presumptive conditions and locations under the newly signed Honoring the PACT Act. You can also access the benefits of this act if you are a veteran survivor. Nonetheless, you first need to apply for the benefits this law offers you, and not everyone is eligible for it.

Over 3.5 million veterans are eligible to receive immediate benefits if their condition is one or more of the 23 presumptive health issues. These conditions include certain cancers and some respiratory illnesses.

Benefits can include:

A $2,000 per month stipend
More access to loans and scholarships.

Many things changed when the PACT Act became active. It extended the eligibility of veterans and survivors for Veterans Affairs medical care, which was already an advantage to the situation Marines were in then. You also have more presumptive conditions for people who don’t have a way to link their toxic exposures to the time millions of veterans were in service.

Here is a list of the main changes to VA health care PACT Act-related benefits brought to the table:

Veterans Affairs now needs to provide vets with a toxic exposure screening when they get admitted for health care.
It’s now easier to get health care if you are a veteran of the Gulf War, Vietnam War, and even post-9/11.
Veterans now have more presumptive conditions for burn pits and toxic exposures, so getting accepted into the VA medical program is not difficult.
It gives more resources to the agencies that research any service-connected disability and helps toxic exposed veterans.

Understanding Veterans Affairs Health Care

VA’s health care evaluation differs from other health programs, similar to how insurance works. Veterans enrolled in VA’s health care facilities can get free medical help to prevent illnesses, primary care, special inpatient and outpatient care services, and checkups to evaluate their healthcare needs.

As you can see, this care program brings several benefits, so it’s not easy to get accepted unless you can prove your illnesses are linked to something that happened while in service. Even though the PACT Act expands VA healthcare eligibility conditions, getting into this program is still complex.

If you file a claim for a VA disability rating and are accepted into a VA healthcare facility, you will receive many benefits.

These are some of the main advantages of VA health care:

VA providers can give you prescription medicine.
Mental health care for both men and women.
Access to community health care providers.
Long-term care.
Access to inpatient and outpatient care at several VA health care facilities.
Disability compensation.
Burial benefits.
Life insurance.

Regardless of veterans having that many VA benefits available, things were still a bit messy when treating exposure to a burn pit and other toxic exposures. People noticed this when many veterans started developing cancer after being victims of toxic exposure in Marine Corps Air Stations.

Veterans had no funds to treat something as expensive as cancer when that happened. Since they couldn’t link what happened to the poor environmental conditions at the air stations where they worked, they didn’t get any VA resources from the government.

How Does the VA Health Care Eligibility Work After the PACT Act?

As we mentioned before, eligibility terms are a bit difficult when it comes to veterans from the Gulf War or Vietnam veterans suffering from exposure to toxic substances. This problem left many veterans with dangerous illnesses after being victims of toxic exposure without the benefits they earned by serving our poisonous.

Fortunately, accepting 9/11 veterans or Marines from Vietnam or the Gulf War is easier now. Eligibility conditions change depending on which one is more accessible, though. Combat veterans needing benefit expansion with the PACT Act must only apply for VA health care from the government’s website.

You are eligible for VA health care and benefits if you served on active duty and are free of dishonorable discharges. Don’t ever think about getting help to cover medical treatment for toxic exposure if you can’t check those boxes.

While those conditions are mandatory, the Department of Veterans Affairs also asks veterans to meet at least one of the following requirements to get health care benefits:

Serving for at least 24 months with no interruptions
If you had a service-connected disability
Having an early out
Serving before September 7, 1980.

The first step to applying for PACT Act health care and benefits is checking you meet all eligibility conditions. After that, gather your social security numbers, military discharge information, insurance cards, last year’s gross household income, and your last year’s deductible expenses. It may seem like a lot of information, but it’s all needed to get treatment for exposure to Agent Orange exposure and other toxic substances.

Healthcare applications take about a week to be processed, so veterans must wait a bit after filing claims. Since the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring, Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act extends eligibility for disability benefits. It will expand benefits to veterans who have lung cancer and other issues even after Agent Orange exposure. It’s now easier for you to get a yes from the VA department.

Although this is the most significant VA health care benefits expansion in VA history, things change slightly when discussing disability claims.

Presumptive Conditions for Toxic Exposed Veterans

One of the reasons accessing VA benefits is that difficult for veterans when dealing with toxic exposure injuries is they need to prove the injuries they got are due to toxic exposure, and that’s not something simple at all.

The perfect example is exposure to MCAS chemicals, which we have mentioned in this article. They worked for years in the air station without knowing all the health issues that would cause them in the future, and many didn’t even know chemical exposure was the cause of their current illnesses.

How can people who can’t link their injuries to something service-related get VA benefits? They have to rely on presumptive conditions. As its name suggests, when you meet a presumptive condition for Agent Orange or any other chemical exposure, the VA department presumes the cause of your injury is service-connected.

Presumptive conditions consist of the illness you are suffering from, so if you get one from the presumptive list, you don’t need to prove anything to anyone to get medical treatment.

VA health care helps cancer patients since cancer is one of the diseases caused by chemical exposure.

The presumptive cancers for VA programs are:

Reproductive cancer
Brain cancer
Any breathing-related cancer
Neck cancer
Gastrointestinal cancer
Head cancer
Melanoma
Pancreatic cancer
Lymphoma
Lymphatic cancer
Glioblastoma
Kidney cancer.

This new law also includes other presumptive illnesses such as:

Sarcoidosis
Pleuritis
ILD
Pulmonary fibrosis
COPD
Auth, ma (after service)
Chronic bronchitis
Chronic sinusitis
Chronic rhinitis
Constrictive bronchiolitis
Obliterative bronchiolitis
Emphysema
Granulomatous disease.

How Can Ehline Law Help You Honor the PACT ACT?

Ehline Law is your safe bet when looking for a way to get compensation to pay for medical bills after getting an injury due to military service. You need to handle a lot of paperwork and documents to apply for health care, and it’s easy to get confused if you are not used to those things.

Veterans with a service connection can’t normally sue the government for their injuries, so there’s no way to get personal injury compensation as in any other situation. Fortunately, filing a VA claim allows you to access medical treatment instead of the funds for it.

We offer a free consultation of your case, so you don’t have to pay us to tell us what the matter is. Apart from that, Ehline Law also has a no-win-no-pay policy, so you don’t have to pay legal fees if you don’t get the desired results. You can also count on us if you are the victim of toxic exposure injuries caused by anything other than military service.

Bottom Line

Thanks to the PACT Act, veterans now have a way to fight for justice and get the treatment they deserve for all the time they served our country. So even if you receive service-connected disabilities, veterans and their families can now recover even more compensation. Under this law, signed by President Biden at the White House, certain health conditions suffered by the Gulf War era and other vets stationed at presumptive locations may be covered. The only thing our nation’s veterans need to do to get help is to call us and schedule a free consultation, so don’t hesitate to do it!

Camp Lejeune Wrongful Death Lawsuit: Health Issues & Payout Amounts

Written by MichaelEhline on November 29, 2024. Posted in Death Law Blog, Government Tort Blog, Service Related Cancer Blog.

The Camp Lejeune water contamination story is one of the most devastating ones for people who had a loved one there between the 1950s and 1980s.

Due to the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the water of Camp Lejeune back in those years, many workers at the local U.S. Marine Corps Base Camp were exposed to drinking toxic liquids, causing sickness and even death.

Thankfully, family members of the victims still have time to file wrongful death claims and seek compensation for all the damages caused by this water contamination case.

This article by Ehline Law will cover the water contamination case in the area and how loved ones of deceased Camp Lejeune victims can file a lawsuit today to recover damages.

Everything About the Camp Lejeune Water Contamination Case

Many consider the Camp Lejeune water contamination case one of the worst public drinking water contamination cases in history.

This case was so severe that it got the camp listed as a “Superfund Site” in 1989 and caused many Camp Lejeune lawsuits over the years.

Let’s dive deeper into what happened at Camp Lejeune and how former Camp Lejeune residents were affected:

What Is Camp Lejeune? An Overview of What Happened

Camp Lejeune’s base was once one of the most important to Marines. It was founded in 1941 in North Carolina. At the time, it was one of the largest and busiest bases within the Marine Corps.

According to Marine Corps reports, they disposed of waste using the “common practices of the time.” However, many records later showed that Marines used to dump industrial wastewater and oil in storm drains.

Moreover, Marines also buried potentially radioactive materials, as the reports state. One of the most severe factors in the Camp Lejeune water contamination case was a dry-cleaning business that used to dump wastewater with chemicals into the drains.

In essence, the Marine Corps, upon investigation in the 1980s, discovered many toxic chemicals and volatile compounds in the Camp Lejeune drinking water, particularly in the Hadnot Point/Tarawa Terrace treatment plants.

According to victims exposed to contaminated drinking water, the Marine Corps knew the wells were contaminated and didn’t address the issue, causing Camp Lejeune residents to drink contaminated water for several years.

To put things in perspective, the concentrations of toxic chemicals in the water are up to 240-3400 times higher than the current safety levels.

The water contamination case in Camp Lejeune caused thousands of people in the area to get sick and die prematurely from cancer, leukemia, and other related ailments. It wasn’t until 1999 that the Marine Corps started to notify Camp Lejeune base members that they “might” have consumed toxic water.

What Was in the Water in Camp Lejeune?

The toxic chemicals found in the Camp Lejeune drinking water included:

TCE (trichloroethylene)
Vinyl Chloride
PCE (perchloroethylene/tetrachloroethylene)
Benzene

Unfortunately, PCE was found to be a suspected carcinogen. Additionally, the Marines didn’t disclose to people that they discovered benzene in the water and also claimed that the EPA didn’t currently mandate “safe” levels of TCE and PCE.

According to reports, the USMC omitted the presence of benzene in drinking water from its 1992 federal health review, although it was well aware that it existed.

What Health Issues Could Camp Lejeune Residents Get from the Water Contamination?

Between 700,000 and 1 million residents in Camp Lejeune were exposed to toxic drinking water. The people exposed include:

Military Personnel
Marines and Their Families
Civilian Contractors in the Area

The chemicals mentioned before are known to cause a wide range of health problems, most of them being life-threatening ones. Some of these dangerous health conditions include:

Bladder, breast, esophageal, kidney, liver, lung, pancreatic, rectal, or prostate cancer
Female infertility
Exposure to miscarriages during pregnancy
Leukemia
Aplastic anemia
Multiple myeloma
Myelodysplastic syndromes
Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
Parkinson’s disease
Cardiac problems

How Can Camp Lejeune Victims Seek Justice?

If you or a loved one were exposed to the contaminated water in Camp Lejeune, you may be entitled to process a lawsuit. On the other hand, those who lost a loved one due to the Camp Lejeune water contamination case can file a wrongful death claim with the help of a lawyer.

Since the Camp Lejeune case happened decades ago, many of the people who got exposed to these toxic chemicals have already passed away. While nothing can take the pain of losing a loved one, filing wrongful death lawsuits can help people seek monetary compensation for all the suffering that incident caused.

Are You Eligible for a Camp Lejeune Wrongful Death Lawsuit?

To start your legal process for a Camp Lejeune wrongful death lawsuit, your loved one must meet a few requirements:

They must have spent at least 30 days in Camp Lejeune.
They must have lived or worked at Camp Lejeune between the incident period (1953-1987).
They must have experienced health complications due to the toxic water exposure before passing away.

Knowing if your loved one met all those requirements can be challenging, mainly due to how long ago the case happened.

Still, if you have doubts about your eligibility for a Camp Lejeune wrongful death lawsuit, feel free to talk to one of our expert lawyers at Ehline Law. We will be more than happy to walk you through the options that are available to you.

What Is the Camp Lejeune Justice Act?

Even though the case happened decades ago, there are still people eager to seek justice and file a lawsuit for deceased Camp Lejeune residents.

Thanks to the efforts of many people, the US Congress approved the Camp Lejeune Justice Act as part of the “Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act.”

Thanks to the Camp Lejeune Justice Act, people can file a Camp Lejeune lawsuit today to seek compensation for their (or their loved ones) exposure to toxic water.

Additionally, the statute of limitations for these wrongful death lawsuits was extended to August 2024, giving people at least two years to file them.

It doesn’t matter if the victim passed away years or decades ago; you can file a Camp Lejeune lawsuit.

How Much Can You Get Paid for Camp Lejeune Wrongful Death Lawsuits?

Considering the Camp Lejeune Justice Act was just recently passed, it’s early to determine an average for what you could win from your wrongful death claim; no settlements have been awarded yet.

However, your settlement amount will depend on many different factors, which we’ll explain below.

Generally speaking, the more evidence you have for your wrongful death claim (or lawsuit), the higher the chances are to win more money. It also helps to work with a reputable lawyer who thoroughly understands North Carolina law.

What Factors Can Affect How Much You Win in Compensation After a Camp Lejeune Wrongful Death Lawsuit?

Were you affected by a Camp Lejeune death in your family? Let us help you seek compensatory damages. As mentioned before, Camp Lejeune claims can be affected by different factors, such as the following ones:

The Victim’s Age Upon Death

It’s vital to note that many people suffered from poor health conditions for years before they died. In that sense, the legal system will evaluate the victim’s age when they were diagnosed with said health condition and their age when they passed away.

As part of the evaluation, the legal system will also consider how their condition affected the victim’s life.

Medical Expenses

Victims who had to go through numerous expensive medical treatments before passing away may be considered for higher settlements for their living families.

Overall, the higher the medical expenses the victim had, the more likely the family is to earn more money after filing the Camp Lejeune wrongful death claim.

Earning Potential

While some victims were able to live for years even after being exposed to the contaminated water, others weren’t able to keep working usually, and some people even died prematurely.

A person who died prematurely translates to a more significant loss of earning potential, which a lawyer can use as an argument to ask for a higher settlement.

The Length of Time Spent at the Base

The primary requirement for people to process a Camp Lejeune wrongful death lawsuit is for the victim to have spent at least 30 days in the base.

However, some people spent much more time than that, which means they were exposed to Camp Lejeune’s water supply for longer.

Depending on how long the victim spent on the base, the family members could pay for a higher settlement in their Camp Lejeune wrongful death claim.

Number of Dependents the Victim Had

If the Camp Lejeune veterans were found to be responsible for providing for dependent family members, Camp Lejeune lawyers could use that as an argument to get their clients better financial compensation. This applies to the victims’ spouses and children.

Regarding VA Benefits

The United States Department of Veteran Affairs offers veterans various health services and benefits. Even though there are many VA claims for Camp Lejeune’s case, some veterans claim that the organization has made it hard to get benefits.

In that sense, some veterans worry that filing a lawsuit will make it harder for them to get VA benefits. However, thanks to the Camp Lejeune Justice Act, any claims made for the Camp Lejeune case, including wrongful death, won’t affect VA’s health care benefits.

Seek Legal Counseling for Your Wrongful Death Claims with Ehline Law

Losing a loved one to Camp Lejeune’s contaminated water case is already devastating enough, so let us help you seek the financial compensation you and your family members deserve to move on and pay for any pending medical expenses from the victim.

In these cases, you must work with a reputable lawyer who understands North Carolina law and a wrongful death tort lawyer to increase your chances of winning.

Our team at Ehline Law will handle every step of the lawsuit process, including gathering evidence, filing the Camp Lejeune wrongful death lawsuit, and negotiating a reasonable payout for you.

Contact our expert team of wrongful death legal counselors at (833) LETS-SUE for more information.