Veterans Affairs: Health Care and Benefits for Veterans Exposed to Agent Orange
Abstract
Since the 1970s, Vietnam-era veterans have attributed certain medical illnesses, disabilities, and birth defects to exposure to Agent Orange and other herbicides sprayed by the U.S. Air Force to destroy enemy crops and remove forest cover. During the last 30 years, Agent Orange legislation has established and updated the health and disability benefits of Vietnam veterans exposed to herbicides. The Veterans Health Care, Training and Small Business Loan Act (P.L. 97-72) elevated Vietnam veterans priority status for health care at Department of Veterans Affairs facilities by recognizing a veteran's own report of exposure as sufficient proof to receive medical care unless there was evidence to the contrary. The Veterans Health Care Eligibility Reform Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-262) completely restructured VA medical care eligibility requirements for all veterans. Under P.L. 104-262, a veteran does not have to demonstrate a link between a certain health condition and exposure to Agent Orange; instead, medical care is provided unless the VA has determined that the condition did not result from exposure to Agent Orange or the condition has been identified by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) as having limited/suggestive evidence of no association between the occurrence of the disease and exposure to a herbicide.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 11, 2008
- Accession Number
- ADA476962
Entities
People
- Sidath V. Panangala
Organizations
- Library of Congress