The US Department of Veterans Affairs is expanding benefit offerings to eligible families nationwide.
Many of these services are offered through the newly passed PACT, or Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics, act.
The bill expanded eligibilities for veterans exposed to toxic chemicals, from Agent Orange in Vietnam to burn pits in the middle east.
In South Dakota specifically, about 650,000 health care appointments were delivered to the state’s veterans and their dependents. In total, 22,588 veterans in the state received some form of VA compensation.
Additionally, VA services offered over 200 of the state’s vets no-cost emergency health services for those in acute suicidal crisis.
Veterans are eligible for VA health services if they were exposed to toxins, served in combat between Vietnam and 9/11, or were deployed during the global War on Terror.