Augusta VA holds outreach event to sign up for PACT Act

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – The Augusta VA says they are holding an outreach event for veterans who have not signed up for PACT Act opportunities.

We are hearing from Senator Jon Ossoff after an expansion of health care for veterans was passed through the PACT Act.

Thanks to the bipartisan PACT Act that Ossoff helped pass into law in 2022, more Georgia veterans can now apply for benefits through the Department of Veterans Affairs.

This expansion allows for veterans who served in areas known for exposure to certain illnesses to have their approval for healthcare be automatic.

“And the good news today is that there is now a whole range of cancers which within the last week have been added so that if you were in one of these places while you were in service where there was exposure to toxic chemicals, and you’re suffering from one of these cancers – that disease is now presumed to be service related, so that there is less red tape, less bureaucratic brick walls at the VA,” Ossoff says.

The VA recently announced expanded VA health care for thousands of veterans through the PACT Act, including those battling bladder cancer, ureter cancer, other genitourinary cancers, acute and chronic leukemias, and multiple myeloma.

“Veterans are owed these,” said Ossoff. “Veterans have earned these benefits through their service. It’s not a burden on the rest of the country. It’s the rest of the country’s obligation to be there for those who, when they were in uniform, were there for us.”

The next outreach event will be at the main campus on Wrightsboro Road on Feb. 4.

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