According to an investigation recently released by the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Veterans Affairs, problems related to misdating led to thousands of mistaken payouts on PACT Act claims since the law was passed in 2022. In many cases, these misdated claims resulted in recipients getting more money than they should have, but in other cases, these errors led to veterans missing out on benefits they were otherwise legally entitled to. The report blames the issues on the complexity of the law, which created confusion about when to calculate the effective start date for beginning compensation.
What is the PACT Act?
The PACT Act, or the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act, as it is formally known, is a law that was originally passed in 2022 to help veterans suffering from the effects of toxic burn pit exposure. More specifically, it designated a set of medical conditions as “presumptive conditions” that would allow veterans to claim benefits even if they lacked the evidence to prove their conditions were related to their military service. This helped many veterans to obtain disability benefits they otherwise would have struggled to get on their own.
What Was the Problem Being Investigated?
According to the OIG, thousands of PACT Act claims were incorrectly dated when they were filed, causing them to have the wrong effective start dates for the period in which they qualified for benefits. In about 26,000 cases, this led to an earlier start date than there should have been, leading to an overpayment of about $6.8 million in benefits. In around 2,300 cases, the opposite problem occurred, leading to veterans having later effective start dates and causing them to miss out on benefits.
Why Did These Mistakes Happen?
In most cases, the reason for these issues was surprisingly mundane: the wording of the PACT Act is complicated, and many people who applied for benefits misunderstood the law. This led to them miscalculating when their effective start date was, creating confusion at the VA that led to veterans receiving incorrect benefit payments. This wound up being costly for both veterans and the government, as the VA was forced to fix these errors and veterans found themselves dealing with unexpected costs.
What Can You Do to Avoid This Situation?
If you want to minimize the risk of these types of costly errors, one of the best ways to do so is to contact a lawyer with experience handling veterans disability claims. They can help you navigate complex laws like the PACT Act to ensure you minimize the risk of these kinds of mistakes. The sooner you call, the sooner they can get to work for you.
The attorneys of Sullivan & Kehoe place a special focus on assisting disabled veterans. Our veterans’ disability lawyers are still available for remote consultation on your legal issues. Call our office at (800) 395-7830 to schedule a consultation in our New York City, Garden City, Kings Park, Riverhead, or White Plains office, or visit our contact page.
