More veterans eligible to enroll in the VA health care, Stutsman County VSO says
Apr. 17—JAMESTOWN — More veterans are now eligible to enroll in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' health care system after a recent expansion of the Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act, according to David Bratton, veterans service officer for Stutsman County.
The expansion of health care eligibility in March makes all veterans who served in the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, Iraq, Afghanistan, the Global War on Terror or any other combat zone after 9/11 eligible to enroll in VA health care without applying for VA benefits first. Veterans who were never deployed but were exposed to toxins or hazards while training or on active duty in the U.S. are also eligible to enroll.
"It covers mainly toxic exposure," Bratton said. "They are looking at things like air pollutants from burn pits, sand, chemicals, pesticides. They are always finding new bases that have issues from contaminated water."
He added that veterans could have been exposed to depleted uranium or industrial solvents.
"Even with people who don't deploy, you are still in your regular day-to-day occupations exposed to diesel fumes, you are exposed to chemicals, asbestos," he said. "This really is a much needed bit of change to get people covered."
Bratton said VA health care can be cheaper compared to health care plans through an employer because the VA can control the cost better and more effectively than in the private sector. He also said veterans enrolled in VA health care usually see their doctors faster.
Unless veterans lose assistance under the Affordable Care Act, signing up for VA health care will not impact their ability to continue seeing their current providers with their current insurance, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' document on the 2024 expanded health care eligibility.
Bratton said over 1,000 North Dakota veterans and more than 5,600 Minnesota veterans have enrolled in the VA health care system since Aug. 10, 2022, just through changes to the PACT Act.
Bratton said veterans can enroll by filling out a 10-10EZ. The VA will then do a toxic exposure risk activity assessment to get an idea of what a veteran may have been exposed to.
"With basic medical enrollment ... it does away with the VA looking at your income," he said. " ... It does away with that income requirement, which is nice."
Once the 10-10EZ form is filled out, the Stutsman County Veterans Service Office will get veterans enrolled for VA health care.
"They can immediately start using either the VA clinic here in town or the Fargo VA health care system," Bratton said.
He said all veterans will need a DD Form 214 — the certificate of release or discharge from active duty — if they are enrolling in VA health care for the first time.
"Every veteran should have that," he said. "If they don't, they should go about requesting it."
He said he has all veterans request their military records because it's important for them to have them.
"If they don't have their DD 214 or their records, even if they are not looking to access benefits, they should still have them and we can help with that too," he said.
He said family members are interested in their relative's military history and the county office frequently gets records requests.
Bratton said he has veterans request the DD Form 214 because it can take up to a year to complete the records request.
"A lot of people won't have copies of anything because they will say they never intended to use VA benefits and then something happens where they need the help and we can't do anything right away," he said. "It's frustrating. We see that frequently."
Bratton said the Stutsman County Veterans Service Office is available to help veterans. He requests that individuals schedule an appointment to meet with Bratton by calling (701) 252-9043.
