The Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our PACT Act of 2022 expanded presumptive service connection for burn pit and airborne hazard exposures. A list of the qualifying conditions, the qualifying service periods, and the rule for back pay tied to the August 2022 effective date.
The PACT Act, signed in August 2022, made a substantial change to how the VA treats claims related to burn pits and other airborne hazards. The law established a presumption of service connection for more than twenty conditions when they appear in veterans who served in covered locations and periods. Veterans whose claims for these conditions had been denied previously can refile. The act also extended the window of post-service VA health care eligibility for many post-9/11 veterans.
Covered service generally includes any period of active duty in specified locations: Afghanistan, Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen on or after September 11, 2001; and specified locations in Southwest Asia on or after August 2, 1990, capturing Gulf War-era service. Service in Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon during overlapping periods is also covered. The exact list is in 38 CFR 3.320 and the VA maintains an updated covered-service-and-location reference online.
The presumptive conditions include a long list of cancers: brain cancer, gastrointestinal cancer of any type, glioblastoma, head cancer of any type, kidney cancer, lymphatic cancer of any type, lymphoma of any type, melanoma, neck cancer of any type, pancreatic cancer, reproductive cancer of any type, and respiratory cancer of any type. The list also includes non-cancer conditions: asthma diagnosed after service, chronic bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic rhinitis, chronic sinusitis, constrictive bronchiolitis or obliterative bronchiolitis, emphysema, granulomatous disease, interstitial lung disease, pleuritis, pulmonary fibrosis, and sarcoidosis.
The presumption means that for veterans with qualifying service, the VA does not require a nexus opinion to grant service connection for these conditions. The veteran still needs the diagnosis and the documented service. The rest follows. For conditions not on the presumptive list but plausibly linked to burn pit exposure, the standard non-presumptive nexus process still applies.
Back pay rules. For PACT Act claims filed within one year of the act's enactment — between August 10, 2022 and August 9, 2023 — the effective date of any grant runs back to August 10, 2022, regardless of when during that year the claim was actually filed. Claims filed after August 9, 2023 have effective dates determined by the date of filing under standard rules. Veterans who filed during the one-year window are entitled to back pay for the period between August 2022 and the rating decision. The VA has been processing these retroactive payments throughout 2023 and into 2026.
Veterans whose previous claims for now-presumptive conditions were denied should refile as supplemental claims under the new presumption. The supplemental claim with new and material evidence — and a change in law qualifies — restores the effective date back to the earlier original claim if filed within one year of the PACT Act notification. The notification went out from the VA to identified affected veterans starting in 2023; veterans who did not receive notification but believe they had an earlier denial of a now-presumptive condition should consult a Veterans Service Officer about the supplemental claim path.
Health care eligibility expansion is the other major change. The act extended the post-service enrollment window for combat veterans to ten years from separation, extending it for veterans whose window had already closed. Toxic-exposure screenings are now part of the standard VA primary care intake and a request for one is honored at any VA medical center. The screening does not establish service connection by itself but produces a record that supports later claims if conditions develop.
Filing notes. A Veterans Service Officer at DAV, VFW, or American Legion can file a PACT-related claim at no cost. The screening tool at VA.gov walks through eligibility for the most common scenarios and identifies whether the veteran qualifies for the presumption. For specific conditions or service histories that do not fit cleanly into the presumption categories, a written intake with a VSO is faster than working through the online forms alone.