The VA plans to start screening patients for environmental exposures during service in the armed forces, including the Gulf War and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. McLain said this screening will happen periodically as part of a veteran’s regular annual screening.

The PACT Act is one of the largest health and benefit expansions in American history. It recognizes toxic exposure as a “cost of war” by addressing the full range of issues affecting toxic-exposed veterans, ensuring generations of veterans who suffer from toxic exposure-related conditions get the benefits and care they’ve earned. This new law also expands and extends eligibility for VA health care for veterans with toxic exposures and veterans of the Vietnam era, Gulf War era, and post-9/11 era.