Starting in 2022, a landmark bill has increased and expanded benefits for veterans who have been exposed to toxic substances.

On August 10, 2022, President Joe Biden signed the PACT Act into law, providing expanded benefits nationwide for veterans with suspected conditions due to toxic exposure to things like Agent Orange and burn pits during their time in the military. army.

“It’s the largest expansion of (Veterans Affairs) benefits in our nation’s history and it’s really much needed,” explained San Luis Obispo County Veterans Services Officer Morgan Boyd.

Formally, it is called the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Act in honor of our promise to comprehensively address toxics by 2022, named after a decorated combat medic who died in 2020 from the effects of exposure to toxic substances related to the service.

Locally, it has had an impact. Boyd explained that last year they increased their profits by 30%, disbursing $12.5 million compared to $9.5 million in 2022.

“We continue to increase that dollar amount,” he said. “We are responsible for $110 million annually in this county for benefits that veterans have access to.”

For Boyd, the PACT Act has addressed personal health issues that he says he encountered in the Middle East during his 12 and a half years of service.

“I have chronic sinusitis and rhinitis,” he said. “I had surgeries and now I have problems with digestion.”

The effects of the burns even affected one of his closest friends, giving him a rare form of esophageal cancer that quickly reared its head upon his return from deployment.

“He died six months later,” Boyd said. “These conditions are very serious for us.”

Co-founder of the nonprofit Welcome Home Military Heroes, Robert Tolan, has worked with countless veterans and remembers what life was like for people before the PACT Act became law.

“Our military heroes were getting a lot of kidney stones or getting sick,” he said. “But we all got sick the same way and that’s when I really started to realize that certain things need to be investigated.”

But now, Tolan directly complements local veteran service organizations in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties as drivers in informing local veteran populations about the accessible benefits of the PACT Act.

“To be honest, it’s absolutely amazing,” Tolan said. “I think especially San Luis Obispo County and Santa Barbara County really stepped up. Even when it was just starting to be passed, they really stepped up to the plate and started teaching veterans about it.”

According to Boyd, 1.8 million claims have been processed.

“So people who have been struggling for decades, actually, some of them for 20 years,” he said, “are now getting access to their benefits and their health care.”

Boyd also told KSBY that despite a dwindling number of veterans in the county, he expects to see more and more appointments to the Office of Veterans Services next year with the goal of capturing more veteran benefits.