Officials estimate there are thousands of Bexar County veterans eligible for new health care and benefits due to toxic substance exposure.
San Antonio-area veterans health care facilities, like the Audie L. Murphy Memorial Veterans’ Hospital, are preparing for an influx after the Veterans Benefits Administration began reviewing all PACT Act-related claims on Jan. 1.Robert Saucedo sits in a straight-back chair holding a 1964 photo of himself in fatigues with a handgun holstered on his hip.
The PACT Act expands access to health and financial benefits for veterans from the Vietnam era to post-9/11. Most significantly, the law adds more than 20 new conditions, such as cancers, chronic breathing problems and high blood pressure, that the VA will presume were caused by exposure to Agent Orange, burn pits and toxic substances such as air pollutants and chemicals.
“I think my lungs are affected by the toxins that I was exposed to,” said the 38-year old San Antonio native, who served on two year-long tours in Iraq. “Now, it’s hard to breathe. I always feel tightness in my chest with anything like smoke, aerosol or fragrance. I feel like I’m always choking.”
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